Maoists fear causes shutdown of bauxite mines in Jharkhand

Lohardaga (Jharkhand), Sep 3 (ANI): Maoist fear looms large in Jharkhand's Lohardaga District as bauxite mine workers abandoned their work, following threats from the extremists.

The people living in nearby villages said till now they were working in the bauxite mines of the region without facing any problem. But recently, posters were pasted in the area threatening the mine workers to close them till further notice.

"This problem is because of the Maoists, due to which the poor people are suffering the most. Labourers are employed for 3-4 days and again they become unemployed. People in this area are dependent on trucks operating in the mines and 60-70 percent of poor are associated with the mining work and mines are the main means of earning money," said a local, Aarif Ansari.

With the shutdown of the bauxite mines, the people living in the nearby villages are rendered unemployed as the mines are the only source of their livelihood for these villagers.

Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) of Lohardaga, Ram Gulam Sharma, said that some anti-social elements organisations were operating in the region in the name of Maoists and are trying to extort money by instilling fear among the locals.

"Some posters have been pasted in the name of PLFI (Peoples Liberation Front of India) and orders have been issued in those posters that mining process would not continue in Gumla and Lohardaga region without their further directions. Many anti-social organisations are operating in this region in the name of Maoists and virtually this is a gang of dacoits, who are trying to extort money by such means and they paste posters in the name of Maoists," said Sharma.

Sharma further said that many a times the mining work is affected due to shutdowns called by the rebels, which has its impact on the tribals and poor in the region, who are left without food and money.

"This poster has had no impact and bauxite mining is being done and trucks are operating. But at times, the mining process is halted due to Maoist activities. At times the rebels of Communist Party of India (Maoists) announce shutdowns in the region or the whole state. Some truck drivers stop operating because of their fear and the brunt is faced by the common man. The tribals are forced to stay unemployed and without food because of the stalling of work," added Sharma.

Jharkhand is known for its rich store of minerals, like coal, iron ore, copper ore, bauxite, mica, graphite, kyanite, sillimanite and limestone, and it forms an integral part of the economy of Jharkhand. The total value of mineral production is amounted to over Rupees 30 billion. (ANI)