At least 500 armed Maoists on Sunday started gathering in Bihar’s southern Munger district close to the site of their violent skirmish with villagers that had led to the death of over 20 rebels in November. Intelligence reports have warned of the Maoists’ plan to avenge the massacre by eliminating as many villagers as possible.
Separate groups of Maoists totalling nearly 500 have reportedly reached hideouts around the Rishikund Hills in the Munger district, said sources in the state police headquarters in Patna. As many as 20 Maoists were suspected to have been killed and their bodies thrown into the Ganga by the villagers in Munger’s Harinmar Diyara in a conflict on November 29. While only two of the four bodies recovered were of the Maoists, the number of blood-stained shoes and clothes (police uniform) left behind on the carnage site had led the police to believe the number of dead Maoists could be over 20.
Bihar DGP Neelmani, who apprised chief minister Nitish Kumar of the law and order situation in Bihar in a review meeting on Sunday, is likely to visit Munger and adjacent Khagaria districts on Monday, said police sources. “A major conflagration between largely unarmed villagers and the heavily armed Maoists is feared to be in the making in the wake of the Harinmar Diyara massacre. The district police forces have been put on high alert and various necessary steps are being taken,” said a senior police official.
The November 29 massacre was the first and only incident of its kind involving Maoists in Bihar after the Nitish Kumar government took over the reins for the second time on November 26 following a landslide victory. The massacre is believed to have been the result of long-running mutual resistance between the Maoists and the villagers.