Criminals set truck on fire

A truck was set on fire today allegedly by a group of criminals in the midst of a two-day Jharkhand bandh call by CPI(Maoists) since yesterday, on the Ranchi-Jamshedpur National Highway within the Ichagarh police station limits in adjoining Seraikela-Kharswan district.
Around ten criminals intercepted the truck by blocking the road with a tree branch and ordered the driver and his helper to get down before they torched the vehicle near Nagasoreng village at around 2 AM, Superintendent of Police, Inderjeet Mahatha said.
As the two-day Maoist bandh was in force, Mahatha said it was natural for people to speculate the incident as the handiwork of Maoists.

District police along with a fire brigade rushed to the spot and recorded the statements of the driver and helper, Mahatha said denying involvement of Maoists.
"There was no Maoists slogan nor any leaflets found at the spot," the SP said.
A case has been registered in this connection and hunt was on to apprehend the culprits involved, he said.
Meanwhile, road traffic on Ranchi-Jamshedpur highway was normal and adequate force have been deployed to inculcate confidence among the people, Mahatha said.
The CPI(Maoists) had called for a two-day Jharkhand and Bihar bandh to protest the killing of its commander Chiragda recently in Bihar.