india

Updated: Mar 22, 2014 23:04 IST

Maoists cadres blew up two school buildings in Navakaniya village of Giridih district on Friday night as the banned outfit stepped up its violent campaign ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.





The village targeted by cadres of the CPI-Maoists is around 35 km from the district headquarters and 230 km from capital Ranchi.

The banned outfit is opposed to the elections and has asked people of the state to stay away from the democratic process.

Security personnel had no knowledge of the incident till they reached the village on Saturday afternoon. The nearest Pirtand police station is just 12 km from the village.

The heavily-armed Maoist cadres also terrorised the villagers and held two of them captive while the others planted dynamite on the school buildings before blowing them up.

The Maoists distributed pamphlets dictating villagers to boycott polling activities.

Terrorised villagers remained tightlipped before the media.

However, an eyewitness, on condition of anonymity, said, "At around 7:30 pm, a group of 50 to 60 armed Maoists arrived here and assembled near the Navakaniya upgraded middle school. Later, they called upon two of the villagers and assaulted them."

On March 20, armed Maoists cadres had torched a machine used for road construction at Navakaniya village.

The attacks came just after the visit of Inspector General (IG) of Police, Bokaro range, Laxman Prasad Singh to Maoist-hotbeds between Tundi, Dhanbad and Parasnath foothills in Giridih on Wednesday.

Giridih superintendent of police Kranti Kumar Gadidesi confirmed the incident. "Police have launched search operations to track the rebels."

CPI (Maoists) have destroyed almost a dozen of school buildings in Giridih over the years.

Just before the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, rebels had blew up buildings of a Manjhiladih middle school at Pirtand, two schools under Deori police station and Khukhra government primary school and Sobranpur village school.

An agency report said that Maoist guerrillas also shot at two people in Khuti district's Marangdih village on Friday night. They also set a vehicle on fire in the same village.