Expressing resentment over a report published in a newspaper claiming that the Maoist have claimed to have killed Umerkote MLA Jagabandhu Majhi and his PSO Pinku Patro on September 24 at Gona under the Raighar police station in Nabarangpur district, the associates of Majhi on Thursday alleged that the report is completely motivated and a fallacious one to gain cheap political mileage by the opposition parties.
A close associate of Majhi, Subesh Gond, said the slain MLA was a tribal leader who fought for the rights of the tribals in his area. The Maoists were very much impressed with the working style of Majhi. There were no prior threats to Majhi by the Maoists, which the Red rebels generally do before executing the warning.
“The fake news story came out at a sensitive time when attempts are on to trace the real culprits by the Crime Branch. Recently, the Crime Branch has released a sketch of the suspected killer of the MLA with a request to the public to share information about the culprit and his whereabouts,” Gond said.
“What is stated in the newspaper report is a self-directed drama by Majhi’s political rivals, who are trying to spread fictitious things against the erstwhile popular leader keeping in view the forthcoming by-election,” Gond further alleged.
Though , the CB investigation was increasingly pointing to the role of groups or rivals Majhi may have made during his rise as a prominent political leader in the area. “It could be a large group of people which was hired for the killing,”
The associates of Jagabandhu strongly believed that the group may well have been hired from neighbouring Chhattisgarh and was constantly in touch with its counterpart seeking intelligence on movement of any such outfit. “Since Majhi was under target of his enemies as would the previous attacks vouch, they may well have given contract to a professional group to give shape to their mission,”
