Timely intervention by police averted a massacre in a Naxal-prone Pipratand village of Giridih here on Saturday.

Around 8am, more than 500 infuriated tribals assembled with traditional weapons and launched a sendra (hunt) to kill seven persons accused of murder. They succeeded in hunting down one of them, targeting him with poisonous arrows. The tribals also torched their houses.

The deceased, Suresh Marandi, 29, who was killed by the enraged mob, was allegedly a Naxal. The villagers accused him of being involved in murdering a youth a week ago.

Enraged tribals had launched the hunt for the accused calling it a sendra, their term for hunting animals in jungles. They were angry against the Naxals, claiming that they had breached their peace by threatening and killing people.

Police to the rescue

A police team managed to reach the spot when the tribal hunt was on. The police personnel got involved and rescued the seven accused and their family members by bringing them out of the burning houses.

“However, to disperse the furious mob, the police team had fired a few rounds in the air. Marandi was killed when he tried to escape both the police and the mob. The policemen were taking the accused to the vajra vahan to save them from the mob, when Marandi ran in the other direction to escape. Finding him alone, mob targeted him with arrows and killed him on the spot,” said Surender Kumar Jha, superintendent of police, Giridih, who along with DC Rahul Kumar Sinha reached the spot on a motorcycle.

A few policemen suffered slight injuries.

To bring the situation under control, a large number of police personnel are camping on the spot, which is about 70km from the Giridih district headquarters.

Pipratand is in a Maoist-sensitive area where the police often conduct anti-Naxal search operations.

Murder over 'land dispute'

Thirty-two-year-old Hiralal Kisku was killed in Pipratand under the Bishanpur panchayat of Pirtand police station on June 4. His body was found lying near a canal at a short distance from his house. A land dispute was cited as the reason behind his murder. A case was registered by the police naming seven people.

According to police sources, all the accused were absconding after the incident, while the victim’s family was constantly being threatened by them. Threats given by the accused to the victim’s family sparked anger among the villagers who are mostly tribals.

On Friday, the villagers got the news that the accused had returned home. They soon assembled and surrounded three houses of the accused on Saturday morning and set a few rooms on fire. No one was hurt.

“Strict action will be taken against those involved in the incident,” said Jha. He added that other accused and their family members had been saved and were being kept in a safe place. Flag marches were being conducted by the police to restore peace in the area.

Marandi had Naxal links, and he was named in many cases.

The police are in the process of lodging an FIR in this connection.