Maoist shutdown in Jharkhand hits normal life

Ranchi, Apr 29 (ANI): The two-day shutdown declared by Maoists, in support of the demands made by them in Chhattisgarh to release abducted District Collector Alex Paul Menon, hit normal life in Jharkhand on Sunday.

Expressing their ire at the shutdown, bus drivers said such shutdowns had become a routine.

"We are facing lot of problems as we have to wait for long hours and do not know whether we can drive our vehicles or not. The commuters are also disturbed. For the last two days the same situation is there. The Bandhs (shutdowns) have become a routine," said Haider, a bus driver.

Another driver said that the shutdown has created a lot of problems, as they fear of an attack by the ultras.

"The roads are unsafe as we feel that our vehicles might be stopped, burnt or blown apart in a bomb blast," said Pinto Singh, a bus driver.

In an audacious operation, Maoist rebels had abducted Alex Paul Menon, an IAS officer of 2006 batch, on April 21 from the middle of a meeting with villagers from Majhipara village in Keralapal area of the Naxal-infected district.

Menon is the first collector of the newly-created Sukma district and was known to be pro-active in undertaking development work in the backward region.

The Naxals have demanded the release of their eight colleagues: Markam Gopanna alias Satyam Reddy, Nirmal Akka alias Vijay Laxmi, Devpal Chandrashekhar Reddy, Shantipriya Reddy, Meena Choudhari, Korsa Sunny, Markam Sunny and Asit Kumar Sen, in return of Menon's release. (ANI)