Ranchi, Aug. 11: Unperturbed by the state’s description that it was the “people” of Longo who lynched nine People’s War rebels four days ago, undertrial members of the Maoist Communist Centre and the People’s War lodged at Birsa Jail held a memorial meeting for their slain comrades last evening.

Inching ahead of the criticism that the killing of disarmed rebels, even if they were “extremists” by the state’s definition, was “barbaric and an act of cowardice”, the undertrial rebels said it was not the “people” of Longo but the powerful among them, duly assisted by the district police, who committed the mass killing.

The police firmly hold that the “justified” lynching displayed “popular reaction” against the rebels, whose writ now runs large in at least 18 of Jharkhand’s 22 districts. But the government has fought shy of describing the extremists as “terrorists”, despite a stamp of approval provided by the Prevention of Terrorism Act, which has been widely used in the state.

The two banned outfits believe that the Longo incident was a “knee-jerk” reaction of the ruling classes who are perturbed over the People’s War “consolidating its influence in East Singhbhum and increasing its support base among the people of the district”.

A resolution adopted during the condolence meeting, which observed a one-minute silence in the memory of the killed rebels, called for the dismantling of the suraksha samitis constituted with police help.

Sources close to the People’s War said the government’s “tactic” was similar to the support provided by the state to private armies like the Ranvir Sena and Sunlight Sena in unified Bihar. “The successive governments in Bihar created these senas to counter the ultra-Left movement. But these turned out to be Frankenstein-like monsters, who later turned against the government itself. The Jharkhand government is trying out the same experiment in the villages but the effort will not succeed simply because the people are not with such moves,” the sources added.

Opposition to the Longo killings has now started emanating from three quarters — the civil rights groups active in the state, the banned outfits themselves and organisations friendly to these outfits. The Jharkhand Democratic Students’ Union today demanded action against the villagers and police personnel involved in the Longo killings.

“The state police chief’s description of the killings as an act of bravery proves the government’s involvement in it. Jharkhand has been converted into a police state,” a member of the Jharkhand Democratic Students’ Union said.