Post News Network
Nuagaon, July 22: Members of the outlawed People’s Liberation Front of India (PLFI) set afire two passenger buses at Loaram under Bishra police limits in Sundargarh district late Tuesday night after their owners reportedly refused to give extortion money demanded by the former.
Five rifle wielding PLFI members, who came on two motorcycles, also torched an earthmover parked near Brahmana Sorada slum, about seven km from Loaram. They then damaged a tractor parked near the earthmover before breaking the glass of another bus in Pital village. The two buses have been completely damaged while 50 per cent of the earthmover has been affected. Rourkela superintendent of police Aniruddha Singh, deputy superintendent of police PK Panigrahi and Bishra police station IIC Sushant Das reached the spot Wednesday morning and started an investigation.
Sources said the incident occurred when the two buses were parked at the bus stand near Loaram around 10 pm. The staffers of the buses went to a nearby village for dinner. Meanwhile, the outlaws came and enquired about the staffers from a villager.
On being informed by the villager, as the staffers reached the spot, the PLFI members thrashed them black and blue before torching the vehicles by pouring petrol. Though the outlaws unleashed their reign of terror for about one and a half hour, none dared to speak against them as they were holding guns. After damaging the buses, they went to Brahmana Sorada slum and set ablaze the JCB machine before fleeing towards Jharkhand.
Panic gripped the villages bordering Jharkhand following the incidents, which have exposed the inability
of the police and law enforcement agencies in checking crime in the area, locals alleged. PLFI claimed responsibility for the incidents. In a telephonic conversation with this correspondent, PLFI area commander Akash Singh said the owners of the two buses were warned beforehand for not paying attention to the demand of extortion. As they continued to ignore the warnings, their vehicles were set ablaze, Singh told the correspondent.