Jharkhand DGP M.V. Rao has sniffed a conspiracy behind the attack on chief minister’s convoy by a mob at the Kishoreganj Chowk area at Harmu in Ranchi on Monday evening.

Speaking to the media at a programme in Jharkhand Armed Police (JAP), Rao hinted at tough action against the perpetrators of violence.

“The CCTV footage seems to indicate that it was a conspiracy to attack the CM’s convoy by a section of the protesters who were bent on taking law into their own hands. We will not tolerate such goonda gardi on roads of Jharkhand. We know to give a befitting reply to the conspirators of violence and teach them a lesson which will not make them even think of committing such acts in future,” said Rao.

Significantly, Hemant Soren’s convoy going from secretariat to his residence was attacked by a mob protesting against the murder of a woman whose beheaded body was recovered from near Ormanjhi earlier on Sunday suddenly turned violence when a police vehicle of the chief minister’s carcade was trying to clear the road for his movement on Monday evening.

A section of the crowd, allegedly led by right wing organisations under patronage of the opposition party, started pelting stones at the CM carcade causing injury to several police personnel, including Gonda thana in-charge Naval Kishore. Later, the CM’s convoy was diverted through another route to his Kanke residence.

The DGP further claimed that they were waiting for a medical report of the body of the woman.

Jharkhand DGP MV Rao address the media at the JAP ground in Ranchi on Tuesday Manob Chowdhury

“We are yet to establish if the woman was raped before being murdered. The identity of the woman is also not yet established. We assume that she might have been murdered somewhere else and body thrown at Ormanjhi to hide evidence. We are investigating it and would soon get to the truth,” said the DGP.

Meanwhile, Ranchi SSP Surendra Jha said that they have detained over a dozen persons for interrogation in the Kishoreganj violence.

“Based on evidence we have rounded up over 12 persons and if their involvement is proved then they will be sent to jail. The holding of agitation in a place like Kishoreganj which falls in the route of the CM’s carcade and the mob suddenly growing in number during evening turning violent seeing the carcade seems to point that there seems to be a conspiracy. However, we are not in a position to say anything conclusively at the moment,” the SSP said.

The SSP also said that the woman’s identity is yet to be established and the medical report of the body will be arriving soon to ascertain if she was sexually assaulted or not. However, he ruled out that the woman belonged to localities near Ranchi.

The perpetrators of the violence are being identified jointly by police teams from Kotwali and Sukhdeonagar thana.