Police have recovered the bodies of all the seven people who were allegedly murdered for staging a protest against the Pathalgadi movement here.
The deceased persons had gone missing since Sunday. Police had received information on Tuesday that the protestors have been killed, following which a manhunt was launched.
"All the seven bodies were recovered from a place three kilometres away from Gulikera village. The entire area is surrounded by hills," said ADG (operations) Murari Lal Meena.
Describing the sequence leading to the incident, police said that a clash broke out between the groups in favour and against the Pathalgadi movement. This lead to the vandalisation of the properties of the pro-Pathalgadi group.
To resolve the issue, a meeting was held on Sunday at Burugulikera village under Sonua police station limits.
Both the parties had not complained or intimidated the police.
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According to Chaibasa police, the pro-Pathalgadi group members allegedly captured the seven persons, took them inside the jungle and were killed.
The victims' families have alleged the involvement of Naxals in the incident. Police are further investigating the matter.
Chief Minister Hemant Soren, who returned from Delhi earlier today, called a high-level meeting to review the situation and gave necessary instructions to the authorities.
"This is a very unfortunate incident. No one is allowed to take the law into their own hands. The government is very clear about this and stringent actions will be taken," he said.
Reports of clashes of the groups supporting and opposing the Pathalgadi movement has surfaced in the past.
After taking office in December last year, the Jharkhand Cabinet announced that all cases registered during the Pathalgadi movement and protests against the amendments to Chotanagpur Tenancy Act (CNT Act) and Santhal Paragana Tenancy Act, 1949 (SPT Act) will be withdrawn.
Pathalgadi refers to a practice of placing stone plaques with declarations and warning inscribed on them at the entry point of villages.
The plaques, proclaiming allegiance to the Constitution, carried inscriptions dismissing the authority of centre and state governments in the villages. It declared the gram sabha as the only sovereign authority and prohibited the entry of outsiders in the villages.