Ranchi Apr 23 PTI A woman was killed after an IED laid by Maoists exploded when she was collecting mahua flowers in a forest on the Lohardaga-Latehar border in Jharkhand police said on SaturdayThe incident happened in the Bulbul forest on Friday when Shakunti Devi a resident of Latehar district was collecting mahua flowers they saidThe authorities got to know about it when her body was brought to the village on Saturday they addedDuring the Operation Double Bull the IEDs which were planted by the Maoists in the forest had been destroyed by the police It seems some IEDs are still there Police are investigating the matter Jharkhand Police spokesperson Amol V Homkar told PTIThe operation which began on February 8 in the Bulbul forests led to the arrest of nine Maoists of the rank of sub-zonal commander and area commanderOne insurgent was killed while five top Maoists with bounties ranging from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 25 lakh surrendered A huge cache of arms and ammunition were also seized PTI SAN SOM SOM

Ranchi Apr 23 PTI An elderly couple was killed in Jharkhands Gumla district allegedly by their relatives who suspected that they practised witchcraft police said on SaturdayThe incident happened around 9 pm on Friday in Bhagat Bukma village in Chainpur police station area around 140 km from state capital Ranchi they saidLundra Chik Baraik 65 and his wife Phulma Devi 60 were attacked with an axe and sticks when they were in their house Chainpur sub-divisional police officer Cyril Marandi told PTILundras sister-in-law Sumitra Devi was arrested in connection with the murder and the involvement of her son Ravindra and some other people is being probed he saidDuring interrogation Sumitra claimed that both the husband and wife were witches and they harmed people with their black magic Marandi saidSumitras daughter was ill for the past few days and she held the couple responsible for her illness he saidShe was booked under provisions of Prevention of Witch DAAIN Practices Act he addedFormer village head Kishun Bhagat said that Lundra had met him on Friday morning and said that Sumitras family was threatening himA meeting was held in presence of village head Jairam Bhagat to sort out the issue We tried to convince both the families but Sumitras family was leveling witchcraft allegations at Lundras family he saidGauging the tension between the two families villagers suggested they report the matter to the police Lundra had gone to the police station We do not know what happened thereafter At night we came to know that Lundra and his wife were killed Bhagat saidMurder on suspicion of witchcraft has been a major issue in Jharkhand In January this year an elderly couple was lynched on suspicion of practising witchcraft in Arki police station area in Khunti districtAn analysis of NCRBs data suggests that a total of 590 people mostly women were killed on allegations of practising witchcraft between 2001 and 2020The state registered the highest 54 witch-hunting murders in 2013 52 in 2008 and 50 in 2007 Witchcraft murder cases started declining after 2014 when 47 people were killed Thirty-two people were killed in 2015 27 in 2016 19 in 2017 18 in 2018 and 15 each in 2019 and 2020 PTI SAN SOM SOM

Ranchi Apr 22 PTI Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Friday said in summer school buses should get the same priority on the road as ambulances so that students can reach home early The chief minister said that common people should try to give way to school buses considering the sweltering heatSpeaking at a function of St Xaviers School Doranda on its completion of 62 years Soren said At present the temperature is on the rise at several places In such a situation a school bus should get the right to proceed before other vehicles as an ambulance so that young children reach home early The government will decide in this regard soon Most parts of Jharkhand reeled under heat wave conditions till WednesdayThe mercury has dropped by four to five degrees Celsius in many parts due to light rainfall in isolated places in the past 24 hours weather officials saidRanchi Meteorological Centre has predicted that another spell of heat wave might start from Garhwa Palamu Chatra Koderma and Giridih from April 25 State capital Ranchi which recorded a maximum temperature of 372 degrees Celsius on Friday might sizzle at 40 degrees Celsius from April 24 weather officials saidGiven the heat wave conditions across Jharkhand the school education and literacy department recently revised the school timingsThe institutions have been asked to operate between 6 am and 12 noon PTI SAN MM MM