Jamshedpur, Jan. 7: Maoists had made an abortive attempt to kill Nagarik Suraksha Samiti (NSS) chief Shankar Chandra Hembrom, a day before they shot dead its general secretary, Dhanai Kisku.

This startling revelation was made Hembrom himself during an interview with The Telegraph today.

According to the NSS chief, two unidentified men came on a bike and stopped in front of his Musabani residence around 7pm on Sunday. They honked twice, expecting Hembrom to step outside. However, instead of him, one of his relatives, who was repairing a car, opened the door. He had a metal plate in hand and that, apparently, saved Hembrom’s life. Caught unawares, the two men mistook the shining surface of metal to be a gun and fled the scene.

Giving an account of the entire episode, Hembrom pointed out that in Musabani, and also in other pockets of Ghatshila sub-division where NSS leaders stay, the movement of people and traffic is restricted.

“Anyone visiting an NSS leader’s is frisked by his bodyguards. If the latter suspect foul play, they have the orders to fire,” Hembrom said. “Two strangers honking in front of the house after dusk and then fleeing the spot obviously raised suspicions. I immediately went to Kisku’s house and warned him. But, unfortunately, he was gunned down the next day.”

The NSS chief said that Kisku’s killing confirmed their suspicion that the two strangers were members of some rebel outfit. “My name was written on their bullets. I escaped by sheer luck. Had I stepped out of m house that evening, I would have been dead,” he said, hinting at a shift in the modus operandi of guerrilla warfare.

The rebels have become mobile, said Hembrom. In splinter groups and armed with weapons, they hunt for victims instead of blasting landmines in a jungle or commissioning a large — and vulnerable to arrest — ambush squad.

The murder of Kisku is the second such incident in six months. Earlier, on August 22, the rebels had killed another active NSS member, Krishna Mahto. Two-wheelers were used in both the incidents.

Maoists had used the same modus operandi to kill Sobhan Tudu, a para-teacher, at Kashiabera haat in the Ghurabandha police station area on December 20. Rebels in splinter groups killed Tudu in the busy marketplace before fleeing on motorcycles.

The East Singhbhum district administration has, meanwhile, stepped up the NSS chief’s security. Superintendent of police Naveen Kumar Singh said they would review the arrangements and, if required, further strengthen his security. At present, Hembrom has four police bodyguards who are armed with self-loading rifles.

Security is also being beefed up in vulnerable pockets of Musabani, which is home to several NSS members. “There will be more police pickets near the residences of NSS activists,” said Singh, adding that the police were doing everything they could to allay fears.

Meanwhile, functionaries of the anti-Maoist outfit operating in a bordering district of Bengal have expressed their solidarity with the NSS leaders.