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Updated: Jan 24, 2020 00:05 IST

Paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force and India Reserve Battalion troopers patrolled Burugulikera, located in the middle of thick jungles in Jharkhand’s Gulikera hills, on Thursday amid tensions in the village days after seven villagers were beheaded allegedly over a dispute related to the Pathalgadi movement.

Officials said additional forces were deployed to prevent further escalation in violence amid strong sentiments for and against the movement, through which several villages in the region have declared self-governance. Officials said that in many villages, government officials are not allowed to enter to carry any developmental work.

Pathalgadi refers to a practice among tribals of erecting stone slabs in honour of their ancestors, to announce important decisions and demarcate boundaries of villages. Many tribal villages erected slabs quoting the Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act when it was enacted in 1996 to allow self-rule through gram sabhas. In 2017, these slabs resurfaced in several villages in protest against then Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government’s attempt to acquire tribal land for development projects. This came to be called the Pathalgadi movement, which involved a refusal to accept government services.

A day after the decapitated bodies were recovered, Burugulikera village of 184 families appeared divided over the movement on Thursday. “...84 families are against Pathalgadi and take every benefit offered by the government. Our children go to schools. We have voter and Aadhaar cards. We get rice as subsidised ration,’’ said Nathuram Budh, whose brother James was one of the seven anti-Pathalgadi villagers killed.

He said the opponents of the movement want them to refuse government schemes and ask them to submit their voter, Aadhaar and ration cards. “My brother James, who was the deputy mukhiya [village head], opposed this. We are now scared as to what will be our fate after the forces leave.”

A group of pro-Pathalgadi activists allegedly killed the seven, aged between 23 and 35, on Sunday night.

Residents said the situation flared up on January 16 when the anti-Pathalgadi group led by James attacked the houses of former mukhiya Mukta Horo and her husband, Ranshi Budh, and few others.

“On January 19, four persons came to our village and called nine villagers including the seven for a meeting. We came to know of the murders only after police recovered the dead bodies of seven villagers on January 22,” said a woman, who did not want to be named.

Deputy commissioner Arava Rajkamal, who has been camping in the village with district police superintendent Indrajit Mahatha since January 21, said the Pathalgadi movement in this area was much more violent than in neighbouring Kunti district.

“In Khunti and other areas, Pathalgadi supporters collect voter cards, Aadhaar cards etc and sent them to the President of India and the state governor. But here the pro-Pathalgadi group has burnt government documents and has been much more violent,” said Rajkamal. He said it was the first case when people have been brutally beaten and beheaded.

Local tribals kidnapped bodyguards of a former Lok Sabha deputy speaker, Karia Munda, in Kunti when police cracked down on pro-Pathalgadi leaders in 2017. “This is the first time when people have been murdered,” Rajkamal said.

A police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said one of the three people detained for the murders took a book on Pathalgadi along when he was taken into custody. Ranshi Budh, who was allegedly leading the pro-Pathalgadi group, has told police that the local Gram Sabha members have killed the seven villagers, he added.

The officer said when asked why the pro-Pathalgadi group had not lodged a complaint regarding violence ahead of the beadings on January 16, Budh said that they do not believe in the present government and will not take any of their services.

Mahatha said so far the investigation has not revealed the involvement of Maoist groups in the killings even though they were probing whether the killing was a result of a battle of dominance between Communist Party of India (Maoist) and People’s Liberation Front of India, two rebel groups active in the region.

He said Maoist Central Committee member, Misir Besra, has been active in the region without elaborating on his activities. Mahatha added no arrests have been made so far though three persons have been detained. “Some of the accused in the killing are still missing,” he said.

Most people were unwilling to speak about the beheading amid tensions. The non-cooperation from locals was also said to be a reason why police took over 24 hours to locate the bodies.