Ranchi: A 28-year-old hockey coach of a government-run day boarding centre was shot dead at his residence in Lapung, around 30km from here, by suspected PLFI rebels on Wednesday night.
According to a statement given by deceased Vijay Munda's wife Mahima Horo (26), around 10-12 armed people barged into their house around 8pm to demand levy and later pumped four bullets into Vijay leading to his death.
Lapung OC Vikas Kumar said they came to know about the incident between 2.30am and 3am but could go to the spot, around 15km from thana, at 5am because of rain.
"The deceased's wife told us that PLFI rebels were demanding levy from them for long. The couple had given the rebels Rs 20,000 last month. They were again troubling them for money but Vijay had kept his phone switched off to evade their calls. On Wednesday night, the rebels barged into their house and killed him. There could be more angles, but we have started the probe on the basis of Mahima's statement and our interaction with local villagers," Kumar said.
An official at Bariatu girls' hockey academy, run by the state government, expressed her shock over the incident.
"Many such centres exist in remote areas of the state. Such incidents will deter people from serving there. I don't know if it was the handiwork of rebels or criminal groups, but according to some villagers of Vijay's hamlet, two masked men had called him out of his home and taken him to a place where other armed men, with faced covered, were waiting. After some talks, they shot him. He tried to run, but couldn't," she said.
According to Karuna Purty, a coach at Bariatu academy, Vijay didn't manage to play at the national level but was a dedicated coach. "He was soft spoken and hardworking," she said, adding that the deceased had two sons - one is a trainee at Jharkhand State Sports Promotion Society-run academy in Hotwar while the other is a student of the day boarding centre in Lapung.
Another coach of the Bariatu academy said the state sports department had given Rs 15,000 as initial assistance to the bereaved family.
Vijay's body has been handed over to his family after post-mortem at RIMS.
