Jamshedpur, Jan. 28: Crossfire between police and Naxalites started in the early hours of morning at Paharpur, under the Patamda police station area today.

Of late Paharpur has witnessed an increased police patrolling, set up to protect a construction site of KK Builders, a steel city company that was attacked two weeks ago by the rebel groups.

Soon after day break today, the police started their long-range patrolling of the area, located some 40 km from the steel city.

Deputy superintendent of police F.K.N. Kujur, while talking to The Telegraph, said it was the 12 rebels, from neighbouring Purulia, who fired first.

“The rebels fired twice. First, they fired seven rounds and then after a pause resorted to more firing on the jawans. But our jawans soon retaliated by firing at the attackers and forced them to flee the spot,” said the deputy superintendent of police, adding that the rebels fled the spot leaving some pamphlets behind.

The pamphlets, written in Bengali, “urged” the villagers to oppose any sort of development work that has been initiated in bordering areas of East Singhbhum, especially Paharpur.

The police believe that the rebels had come to the neighbouring Baghera to conduct a secret meeting at the village last night, to plan the morning’s attack. .

“A group of people at Baghera village claimed to have seen the rebels moving with their guns in and around the village, just an hour before the morning attack,” the police sources said.

It may be mentioned here that three weeks ago the rebels had torched an excavator and some dumpers belonging to the KK Builders, who have been assigned the task of constructing roads in the interiors of Koira in Patamda.

The rebels had asked the firm to wind up their work and leave at the earliest. It was the day after the attack, that the superintendent of police, East Singhbhum, had set up a police picket at Paharpur.