Two wanted Maoists surrendered before Bihar police with huge cache of arms

Source: newindianexpress.com

PATNA: After years of chasing, the outlawed CPI (Maoist) guerrillas, two hardcore Maoists of Vaishali district in Bihar surrendered at police headquarters on Monday with a huge cache of arms and ammunition.

The Maoists, identified as Amarnath Sahni (45) and Rakesh Sahni (40) of Jandaha block were wanted in more than a dozen cases of insurgency-related crimes including the murder of two farmers in 2018.

ADG (Hq) Jitendra Kumar told the media that Amarnath Sahni has been accused of 14 cases whereas his associate Rakesh Kumar is named in six Maoist related crimes in the state.

“They surrendered before the police headquarters with one carbine machine gun, 2 pistols and a large number of cartridges and one country made one round pistol,” Kumar added.

Mukhiyas Targeted in Bihar, 2 Killed in 24 Hours

Source: newsclick.in

Patna: With two mukhiyas [elected village body heads] killed by criminals in Bihar in the last 24 hours, hundreds of mukhiyas in rural areas across the state are worried about their security, owing to the threat to their lives from gangsters, criminals and rivals.

Arun Singh (48), mukhiya of Barap panchayat, was shot dead on Monday night by motorcycle-borne criminals at his native village in Bhojpur district. In another incident, Ravinder alias Robin Das, mukhiya of Fatehpur panchayat, was allegedly kidnapped and murdered. His body was found on Tuesday morning in Sabaur in the neighbouring Bhagalpur district.

Singh, who belongs to the powerful upper caste Rajput, was killed when he was reportedly sitting along with other villagers outside a house in his native village. Angry over the killing, hundreds of local villagers on Tuesday blocked Ara-Sasaram road, demanding arrest of the criminals involved.

Das’s throat was allegedly slit after he was kidnapped and his body was thrown near an orchard. Local residents have protested and are demanding compensation for his family.

“Singh and Das were killed by criminals hired for revenge by their rivals or by those having dispute with them over some issue,” a senior police official at the police headquarters here said.

Last month, Mohammad Alishan, mukhiya of Sumera panchayat in Muzaffarpur district, was shot dead at his native village. In the past six months, half a dozen husbands of women mukhiyas have been killed across the state. After Bihar government reserved 50% seats in panchayat polls for women, hundreds of women mukhiyas have got elected, but their husbands run the show on the ground.

According to a rural activist, Mahender Yadav, most of mukhiyas were murdered over disputes with local criminals, gangsters or rivalry related to development work in their areas.

A senior officer from the Home Department, which is under Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, told NewsClick that security threat is an old concern among mukhiyas in the state and time and again, they have demanded bodyguards. Akhiyar Khan, mukhiya of a panchayat in Arwal district, confirmed this: “We have demanded bodyguards repeatedly citing real threat to our lives, but we have been ignored.”

Mukhiyas are not safe. There is a threat to our life, as we are working on the ground. But the government hardly bothers to provide security to us,” Chotu Singh, mukhiya of a panchayat under Haspura block in Aurangabad district said.

mukhiya of a panchayat in Muzaffarpur district told NewsClick on the condition of anonymity that local criminals demand tax and threaten the mukhiyas with dire consequences if they are not paid.

In some districts like Gaya, Jehanabad, Jamui, Munger, Sitamarhi, Rohtas, Nawada, Sheohar, Aurangabad and Arwal, mukhiyas are even afraid of threats by Maoists.

In Bihar, there are 8,442 village body heads, 8,422 sarpanch, 1,15,542 panchayat members, 11,534 panchayat samiti members and 1,162 zila parishad members.

Thanks to rampant corruption in state and central government-funded development schemes in rural areas, mukhiyas have become neo-rich, which makes them easy targets of the criminals as well as their political rivals. With youths without job or work, they are hired by gangs to target mukhiyasfor money.

Security beefed up at Patna’s Beur Jail after IB alert of possible jailbreak attempt by Maoists

Source: hindustantimes.com

Unprecedented security has been deployed at Patna’s famous Beur Jail since late Wednesday night after the Intelligence Bureau (IB) alerted the Bihar police about a possible jailbreak attempt by Maoists and terrorists, much like the 2005 Jehanabad jail break incident.

Police said at least 80 jawans of Bihar Military Police (BMP) and other personnel have additionally been deployed at the jail.

Senior police officers are camping in the jail and carrying out search operations. Director general of police (DGP) Gupteshwar Pandey and home secretary Amir Subhani also visited the jail and supervised the security arrangements.

In November 2005, hundreds of Maoists had stormed the Jehanabad jail and freed several of their top leaders. In all, 341 prisoners fled in that incident.

The Beur jail houses several Maoist leaders, hardened criminals and at least a dozen terrorists associated with banned outfits like Indian Mujahideen (IM), Laskar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).

Officials said the search operations led to recovery of several cell phones and few other items not permitted inside the jail.

As per the IB alert, the accused in the Bodh Gaya and Gandhi Maidan terror blasts, along with other criminals lodged inside the jail, had planned to carry out a repeat of the Jehanabad incident or a major blast.

After inspecting the jail, the DGP instructed officials to intensify patrolling in the area. “We raided several wards and recovered some cell phones. We are alert and ready to tackle any eventuality,” he said.

DIG (central range, Patna), Rajesh Kumar, however, preferred to downplay the jailbreak threat. “We are carrying out routine raids and reviewing the security in the wake of attack on a constable at Danapur court by an undertrial prisoner recently. The objective to prevent repeat of such incidents,” he said.

Jail officials said that the accused in Bodh Gaya and Gandhi Maidan blasts lodged inside Beur jail had in October 2017 clashed with the jail security personnel and also raised anti-national slogans. Among other things, they had decried the quality of food served to them. Since then, they have been confined to their cells and not allowed to meet with others.