RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on Saturday directly blamed the Nitish Kumar-led government for the rise in Maoist expansion and activities in Bihar after the seizure of a large cache of bombs from a Maoist hideout and the rebels asking a rail factory manager to pay `50 lakh.
“The state government led by Nitish Kumar is solely responsible for the recent growth in Maoist expansion and activities across Bihar. The situation was not so bad during our (RJD) regime. Corruption and injustice during the current regime have led to such rise in Maoist activities,” said Mr Yadav during a visit to his Lok Sabha constituency in Saran district.
Three major Maoist-related reports in Bihar on Saturday were behind Mr Yadav accusing the state’s JD(U)-BJP coalition government of helping the spread of Maoist activities, said RJD sources. While Mr Yadav has earlier levelled such charges against the NDA government, he was more direct and harsh on Saturday.
Maoist rebels of the banned CPI(Maoist) outfit have asked Sanjay Kumar Singh, manager of the Chapra rail factory project, to pay them `50 lakh, according to a complaint he lodged with the police on Saturday. Two letters and a phone call Mr Singh received from the Maoists threatened to kill him unless he paid the sum. The RJD chief cited this incident in his outbursts against Bihar’s NDA government.
CRPF jawans and state policemen seized seven can bombs and a cylinder bomb at the Bakhshudi hill in Gaya district during a raid on Saturday. They had seized 56 detonators and two pistols at the same site on Friday. Kamalkant, a self-styled zonal commander of the banned People’s War Group, was arrested in Patna district on Saturday and cash worth `68,000 and Maoist literature from him.
CM Nitish Kumar, in an irreverent retort to the charges, said: “They may rant and give bites (to TV channels) sitting in Patna as much as they want. I am doing my work and touring the state to take stock of the progress.”