Jharkhand, India, Nov 22, 2011 / 00:42 am
Police claim that villagers and Maoist activists killed Sister Valsha John, an Indian religious sister whose death has been linked to her work with native tribes in opposition to coal mining interests.
“We have arrested seven people in the murder of Valsha John,” said Arun Oraon, inspector general of police in Jharkhand's Santhal Pargana division, who told reporters that “villagers in connivance with the Maoists killed her.”
“Around 45 people raided the house of (Sr.) John,” Oraon announced Nov. 20, according to the Times of India. He claimed that “nearly 30 were Maoists,” while “the rest were villagers.”
As of Sunday, the police had arrested seven of the villagers they accused of invading Sr. John's house and participating in her Nov. 15 beating and murder. But they had not managed to apprehend any of the purported Maoists, even as The Hindu newspaper reported they had been traced to a specific squadron.