Rebels dig trenches to shield contractors

RANCHI: To avoid inspection of the substandard work undertaken by contractors under the Pratapur block of Chatra district, Maoists dug trenches in connivance with contractors earlier this month and nearly 50 villages were cut off. On the night of July 10, Maoists dug five trenches on the Pratapur-Barura Road and three trenches on the Pratapur-Ghodi Ghat stretch under Pratapur police station with the help of JCB machines.
Over 50 villages with six panchayats had no connectivity. More than 30,000 people residing in the six panchayats of Dumarwar, Barura, Eghara, Bharhi, Humajang and Sidki were unable to commute to the block headquarter for a week. The rebels also put up posters and red flags on the land of Sachidanand Akhori in Guria village (about two km far from the police station) saying that this land has been seized by the Maoists and will be distributed among the poor.
Later, after investigation, the police lodged an FIR against nine people, including Khedu Yadav (contractor), Ganesh Prasad (husband of district council chairperson Indu Devi), Brajesh Sao (petrol dealer), Anurag Yadav (sub-zonal commander of the Maoists). It was found during investigation that Khedu and Ganesh, two local contractors, were allotted work worth Rs 1.5 crore under the minor irrigation government scheme in Dumarwar panchayat.
Khedu, after getting a nod from local politicians and his partners, had asked his elder brother Anurag Yadav, who is a Moaist, to make trenches, so that panic spreads in the area and no one comes to inspect their work. Sources said Khedu has made a fortune following a Maoist- contractor nexus and has become a close confidante of local politicians.
The Maoists had earlier spread the word that the trenches were dug to prevent the police from entering the forests in the area since a meeting of the rebels was imminent. Security forces even launched Operation Blue Moon a couple of days later in Pratapur but it did not yield much success. During investigation and subsequent arrests of three persons in connection with the case, it became evident that it was the handiwork of contractor Khedu and his Maoist brother Anurag to avoid inspection of their work.
It was also revealed that the JCB machine was provided to the Maoists at around 8 pm on July 9 by Khedu and others and it was refuelled by local diesel vendor Brajesh Sao and by midnight trenches were dug. "The case is still under investigation and three persons have been arrested so far," said Chatra SP Anup Birthray, confirming that the contractor-Maoist nexus has come to the fore in the case. Last month, the same JCB machine was used by Maoists to demolish a school building at Kaura village under the same police station. "The repair work was later taken up by Khedu," said a source, adding that such is the nexus in the area that Maoists often destroy structures and Yadav and his men try to bag the contract by exercising influence. With increasing incidents of JCBs being used to demolish structures by Maoists, the former Chatra SP Prabhat Kumar has asked all police stations not to allow earth-moving machines to move after 6 pm as a precautionary step.