Irked Maoists extend two-day shutdown call to one week in Jharkhand district

SIMDEGA/LATEHAR - Irked by the people’s non-compliance with the two-day shutdown call in Jharkhand’s Simdega district, warning letters extending markets shutdown to one week were circulated here on Thursday by suspected Maoists.

In the letter, the Maoists have forewarned that the market shutdown has been extended by one more week in the area and all have to abide by this dictum.

Suspected Maoists have stuck posters all over the marketplace in Kersai block of the district.

The posters warn the shopkeepers to strictly adhere to the shutdown call after it was observed that some of the shop owners had refuted the previous call for shutdown.

Maoists had called for the shutdown on August 3 and 4 in five - Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Orissa and Chhattisgarh - to protest the security forces killing their leader Sidhu Soren.

By and large, the markets were completely closed and even the healthcare centres in the area had drawn the curtains.

Amidst these frequent Bandhs, the daily wage earners working at market places are the worst hit. Even petty shop owners say they are adversely affected by these shutdown calls.

“We are facing a lot of problems because of all this and we can feed ourselves only if we manage to earn something,” said Ram Dayal Singh, a shopkeeper during the Bandh.

“Even after the announcement of shutdown by Maoists, some of the shopkeepers still kept their shops open and certain anti-social elements have now reacted against this audacity of the shopkeepers,” said Satanjiv Jha, Police inspector, Kersai Police Station. (ANI)