Two members of a family died and two others sustained injuries after Peoples’ Liberation Front of India (PLFI) rebels barged into their house in a Gumla village and opened fire hours after Holi festivities concluded on Thursday.

One of the survivors said that the family was resting at the courtyard of their house in Turundu village on Thursday evening after Holi festivities were over. Armed men, sporting uniforms, barged into the house and opened fire.

Ramvilas Gope and Laxman Lohra died on the spot, while Gope’s widow, Lilavati Devi and her son Tulsi Kumar had to be rushed to the hospital. The survivors are out of danger, sources said.

Devi told the police that there was no rivalry between her family and the PLFI rebels. The police, however, suspect that refusal in payment of levy might be a probable reason for the attack.

The village comes under the jurisdiction of Kamdara Police Station. Gumla Superintendent of Police, Anjani Kumar Jha, said that the bodies have been sent for autopsy and the police have launched a manhunt to nab the perpetrators.

“Further investigation will reveal the purpose behind the killings,” he said.

According to figures with the Ministry of Home Affairs, at least 18 of 24 districts in Jharkhand are LWE-affected. Apart from the main CPI (Maoist), there are at least 17 splinter outfits active in the tribal hinterland. A majority of the splinter outfits, police say, are involved in extorting money from businessmen, trafficking children and killing for sport. They have unleashed a reign of terror on innocent villagers here.

PLFI, one of these splinter outfits, was formed by Dinesh Gope, an ex-army man, in 2003.