Bike-borne gunmen shoot dead mining official engaged by NTPC in Jharkhand

A senior official of a mining developer cum operator (MDO) firm engaged by power utility NTPC was shot dead in Jharkhand's Hazaribagh district on Tuesday, police said.

Two bike-borne gunmen fired at Sharad Kumar, a senior vice president of the MDO, from close range near Barkagaon Forest Guest House while he was proceeding to a site office in an SUV.

His bodyguard was also injured in the attack, Hazaribagh Superintendent of Police Manoj Ratan Chothe said.

Kumar and the bodyguard were brought to a private hospital where the former was declared dead on arrival.

Kumar had received two bullets - one on his chest and the other on his stomach. The body was sent to a Ranchi hospital for post-mortem examination.

The bodyguard suffered injuries on the waist.

The miscreants were masked and appeared to be sharpshooters, the SP said adding that the motive of the murder is not yet clear though the attack appears to be planned.

The SP said that a case has been registered at the Barkagaon police station.

All nearby police stations were alerted. No arrests have been made in this connection till the filing of this copy.

An NTPC official who did not wish to be quoted said: "This incident will have an impact on the production of coal in the belt as tension and panic prevails in the region.

''This happened at a time when the NTPC targeted to produce 34 billion tonnes of coal in the current fiscal for meeting the coal requirements of power plants.'' The MDO was engaged by NTPC at Chatti Bariatu coal mine.

The central PSU is India's largest power utility with an installed capacity of 72,304 MW, including joint ventures.