Ranchi, Feb. 13: In two separate incidents on Sunday night, rebels torched the mining equipment of Hindalco Industries at Gurdari bauxite mines and destroyed a stone-crusher machine of a businessman in the Barisa Tongri locality under the Gumla sadar police station.

Around 10.30pm on Sunday, two-dozen armed men, allegedly belonging to the banned TPC, partially torched the excavator and compressor machines of Hindalco Industries at the Gurdari bauxite mines in Kathupani village.

The rebels then escaped to Latehar district. An FIR has been lodged against unknown people. "Apparently, TPC cadres from Latehar executed the crime," Gumla SP Chandan Kumar Jha said.

In another incident, unidentified criminals destroyed the crusher machine of Iqbal Stone Crusher, owned by businessman Mohammad Feroze Ali.

Hunt on for Maoists

Search operations are being conducted along the Giridih-Jamui border for CPI (Maoist) operatives, following Sunday night's shootout killing two in Bhelwaghati.

Sources said, at around 9pm on Sunday 11-12 uniformed men reached the house of Bhelwaghati panchayat mukhiya Prabhavati Burnawal.

They open fired at Burnawal's husband Gori Shankar, elder son Subhash, his younger brother Ranjeet and a private teacher Shyam Sundar Pandit who were at a shop in front of the house at that time. Subhash and Pandit were killed on the spot.

Gori and Ranjeet sustained bullet injuries on their legs.

The assailants then fled to the forest area of Bongi under Chakai police station in Jamui district of Bihar.

The injured duo were sent to Dhanbad from where Gori was referred to a hospital in Durgapur.