Ranchi/Jamshedpur, March 5
Life in Jharkhand was paralysed today by a statewide dawn-to-dusk bandh called by all political parties to protest yesterday’s gunning down of JMM general secretary and MP Sunil Mahto by the Naxalites.

High alert was sounded in the state immediately after the JMM MP from the Jamshedpur constituency and another party leader Prabhakar Mahto, along with two bodyguards, were shot dead by CPI (Maoist) activists at Baguria village near Naxalite-affected Ghatshila in east Singhbhum district.

The bandh was total, official sources from all districts said, adding that only the examinees appearing for the finals and other essential services were exempted from the purview of the bandh.

In Jamshedpur, with the break of dawn, bandh supporters squatted on railway tracks, bringing rail services to a complete stop.

Last night, as soon as the news of the killing spread, the JMM activists took to the streets, blocking roads at Saraikela-Kharswan district, the ancestral home town of the deceased leader.

Raising anti-Maoist slogans, the activists blocked roads and burnt tyres at Adityapur, Gamariah and Kandra areas, disrupting traffic, the police said in Jamshedpur.

The protesters also indulged in stone pelting and damaged several vehicles, after which a police team dispersed them.

Many party activists and leaders gathered at Mahto’s house at Gamariah to console the bereaved family.

The Jharkhand chief secretary and the director-general of police have been asked to submit a report by this evening, sources said.

The Jharkhand Government said today that “drastic action” will be taken against the Naxalites even as joint counter-insurgency operations were launched in co-operation with Bihar, West Bengal and Orissa.

Chief Minister Madhu Koda this morning called on Governor Syed Sibtey Razi at Raj Bhavan at Ranchi to brief him. Then he rushed to Jamshedpur, where he told reporters, that the CBI inquiry was required to see if any political “conspiracy” was behind the killings. — UNI, PTI