The two-day bandh called by the outlawed CPI(Maoists) led to large scale violence in central Bihar on Monday. In Naxal-affected Gaya district, red rebels torched over 32 heavy vehicles on GT Road in the early morning. The Maoists had given a two-day Bihar and Jharkhand bandh call in protest against the killing of a top woman Maoist in Gaya’s Barachatti area during a joint operation by CRPF and police. She was identified as Sarita alias Urmila Ganjoo and was believed to be a member of Bihar-Jharkhand-Chhattisgarh Special Area Committee. Her husband is a hardcore Maoist and now languishing in Jharkhand jail. The bandh started from Sunday midnight and will continue till Tuesday midnight.
“The Maoists torched 32 trucks on GT Road between Bishunpur and Taradih under Amas police station. The burnt vehicles included four lPG tankers but luckily their tanks did not catch and a major disaster was averted. No casualty has been reported during the violence on the first day of the 48 hours bandh,” said IG Operations Sushil Khorpade. The Maoists have also pasted handwritten posters in some areas of Magadh region warning the police officials, including the IG, DIG and SSP of Gaya of consequences for the killing of their cadres.