According to reports coming out of Hazaribagh in Jharkhand, some members of the Naxal group Tritiya Prastuti Committee (TPC) ended up fighting each other over the distribution of their illegally earned money. This fight culminated in the death of 6 TPC members including three commanders.

The incident is believed to have happened on Saturday night at the Hendegir forest surrounding Ranchi and Hazaribagh. After the incident the TPC members cordoned off the area, rendering the police or administration unable to reach the spot immediately.

It is believed that TPC’s Zonal commander Sagar Ganzu, Area commander Manish Mahato and Commander Johnson are those among dead. This attack was reportedly carried out during the core committee meeting of the TPC by some members named Anil Uranv, Chotan and Vinod.

It was also reported that two TCP members were injured in the gun battle. The whole dispute seems to have stemmed from a disagreement over the distribution of Rs 60 lakh, which in most cases is earned via taking ransom, protection money from citizens and businessmen, and other such means. It was also reported that after the incident, about 150 Naxals reached the spot and took away the dead and injured.

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On Sunday morning the police arrived at the spot and found articles like blood stained clothes, boxes, a human head among others. They later were reported to have launched a search operation for the Naxals.

This internal feud has now prompted the Naxals and their supporters to go into a rampage mode. It was reported that they have been going around burning JCBs, tractors, generators etc. of construction companies which are carrying out road and bridge construction in the area. They have also beaten up 2 supervisors, 7 laborers, 1 driver and 2 guards in the process.

This isn’t the only time Naxals have ended up killing each other after getting into a personal dispute. In 2014, it was reported that an encounter had taken place between the TPC and the CPI (Maoists), in which at least 15 TPC members had died. A couple of years prior to that, TPC members had reportedly ended up killing 10 Maoists.