Hours after the attack on central forces at Gadchiroli in Maharashtra on Wednesday, in which as many as 16 security personnel lost their lives in IED blasts, Maoists torched at least six vehicles and other machines of a construction company engaged in the construction of roads across the Maoist-affected regions of the Magadh division under the Naxal-hit Gaya district of Bihar.

The Maoists had earlier demanded levy from the contractors for continuation of the ongoing work. All the staff and officers of the company have hence fled the site, fearing the Maoists, who have threatened them with dire consequences if they continued working on the site.

The incident took place around midnight on Wednesday, according to local villagers, who said, they heard gunshots near the construction site.

The Gaya police and villagers said that more than three dozen armed Maoists descended on the construction site between Jaygir and Bhoktadih villages under the Barachatti police station and raised slogans against the police and the administration, before proceeding with their planned attack on the company’s property.

The armed squad members torched at least six vehicles parked there and also beat up staff members who were present there, before letting them flee. The Maoists, after an hour-long operation, left the scene, threatening the villagers to stay away from the police and the administration.

Soon after getting the information, the Barachatti police reached the spot and took stock of the situation. Gaya city superintendent of police Sushil Kumar also reached the spot in the wee hours of Thursday and enquired about the incident.

“The Maoists are now a frustrated lot after their failure to enforce poll boycott across the Magadh division. They had mega plans to disrupt polls in the first phase elections across the Magadh division, but deployment of police and central forces, apart from continuous combing operations across bordering areas of Jharkhand pushed the Left insurgents to the walls, leaving no room for violence,’’ said a senior officer of the central forces, requesting anonymity.

SP Sushil Kumar, who is still camping at the incident site, said that the attack is the outcome of Maoists’ frustration as they had miserably failed to enforce poll boycott in the region. Their frustration at people participating in the Lok Sabha polls was visible and hence they decided to launch an attack to intimidate people further.

“We have already launched search operations across Barachatti and adjoining forests. We have also assured the construction companies engaged at different places in the district of providing adequate security to them,” the SP said.

First Published: May 03, 2019 04:15 IST