One killed in Rourkela Maoist attack

ROURKELA, June 24: A bomb attack on the office of a crusher unit owner killed one person ~ Mohan Jaiswal yesterday. This has caused panic particularly among businessmen and traders in Sundergarh district.Residents suspect yesterday's incident to be the handiwork of MCC cadres belonging to Indian Peoples' Front based in Jharkhand. But the police maintain that it does not fit into the MCC scheme of things. “It appears to be the handiwork of criminals rather than MCC cadres,” said IG Mr Pranabendu Acharya.At 8.30 p.m. last night, six people on motorcycles attacked the office of Mr Basu Jaiswal, a crusher unit owner and local BJD activist of Raibaga, a bordering town of Sundergarh near Biramitrapur. Mohan, the elder son of Mr Jaiswal was standing outside the office. The group, which was coming from the direction of Biramitrapur, stopped near the office and found Mohan talking to some of his friends. They hurled two crude bombs towards him. Mohan was seriously injured and succumbed to his injuries on the way to the hospital.Before fleeing the place, the criminals hurled two more bombs at the office and fired a few rounds in the air to scare away the residents. Mr Jaiswal incidentally had earlier received threats of extortion from the ultras. Few days ago, when the MCC was active in Biramitrapur area they had targeted some of the crusher unit owners. They had converged on Mr Jaiswal’s crusher and beat up his staff and demanded a hefty amount. However, Mr Jaiswal did not comply instead reported the matter to the police. It was suspected that the MCC cadres belonged to a Jharkhand based splinter organisation headed by Ram Malli. A leaflet in this regard was found near the site of the incident. It is also believed that Mr Jaiswal has some business rivalry and the group was hired to settle scores. A large piece of land owned by him near the Raibaga PS and is contentious at this moment could possibly the reason for the killing.