Delhi : Pathalgadis erect a stone plaque or signboard outside the village, declaring it sovereign territory and prohibiting entry of outsiders.
Seven persons were taken hostage and later killed, allegedly by armed supporters of the Pathalgadi self-rule movement, in a village in West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand, police said Wednesday. All seven, police said, had been decapitated by their abductors.
The incident took place Sunday evening but the police, who reached Burugulikera village in Gudri block Tuesday, could retrieve the bodies only Wednesday. The killings were said to be a fallout of an old rivalry between supporters of the Pathalgadi movement and those against it.
“The problem between the Pathalgadi factions in the village had been brewing for a while. The anti-Pathalgadi faction did not pay heed to the call by the pro-Pathalgadi people who asked them to submit some documents and reject government schemes. While resisting, the anti-Pathalgadi faction indulged in some sort of violence. In retaliation, the pro-Pathalgadi people, who form the majority in the village, held them hostage and later murd
ered them,” a police officer said.
Pathalgadi is a decades-old tribal protest which seeks autonomy for gram sabhas. It rejects the law of the land as well as government rights over their forests and rivers. As part of the movement, Pathalgadis erect a stone plaque or signboard outside the village, declaring it sovereign territory and prohibiting entry of outsiders.