Bihar Timeline 2010

January 3: After receiving intelligence reports that cadres of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) are planning to blow up railway installations, security has been tightened in Bihar.

Armed CPI-Maoist cadres shot dead a Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninist (CPI-ML) activist at Manfar village in the Gaya District.

January 5: Police arrested two CPI-Maoist cadres after an encounter in the Kachwar village of Rohtas District.

January 10: Armed CPI-Maoist cadres attacked a Bihar Military Police (BMP) camp in the Bhagalpur District and injured four BMP personnel before looting arms and ammunition.

January 11: To counter Naxalites (left wing extremists) in Bihar, the State Government is planning to set up a special cell in its Police headquarters for ensuring better coordination among the Central Para Military Forces (CPMFs), District Police personnel and intelligence agencies.

January 11-12: The CPI-Maoist set ablaze several bridges construction machines at Chamotola in the East Champaran District.

January 13: Two CPI-Maoist cadres suspected to have been involved in an attack on a BMP camp were arrested from Munger District.

January 13-14: Four CPI-Maoist cadres were arrested and as many bunkers demolished during an encounter between the extremists and Police in a forest under Belhar Police Station of Banka District.

January 14: Around 1,250 detonators were seized by the Police in the Aurangabad District.  

January 15: The special operations group of the STF arrested a top Maoist and member of the CPI-Maoist zonal committee Subodh Singh alias Anandji alias Divendu Kumar Singh from a house in the Kankerbagh area of Patna.

January 17: The Maoists carried out attacks at four places in Gaya and Aurangabad Districts in the night of January 17. Besides setting ablaze a truck on Grand Trunk Road, near Amas, they set ablaze railway property at Rafiganj and blew cell phone towers under Gaya's Gurua and Guraru Police Stations. The extremists also fired several dozen rounds on the national highway. According to reports, heavily armed Maoists raided the PWI store of the railways near Rafiganj station and set ablaze wooden sleepers.

Two top Maoists were arrested from Belhar in Banka District.

Two CPI-Maoist cadres, Ram Chatur Manjhi and Shankar Manjhi, were arrested based on information revealed by the CPI-Maoist 'zonal commander' of Darbhanga and Madhubani Districts, Rajendra Sadai, who was arrested in the night of January 16.

January 18: Over 100 CPI-Maoist cadres blew up a railway track near Nadaul railway station in the Jehanabad District. The Maoists were enforcing a one-day strike on January 18 in their strongholds to protest the arrest of their senior leader Subodhji alias Anand, police said.

February 2: Huge cache of explosives and firearms, including 33 bags of high quality explosive materials, 10 grenades, equal number of magazines of Insas rifles, the CPI-Maoist literature and Police uniform and equipment used for making landmine, were recovered by the Police during a combing operation from a hideout at Kandini village in Munger District.

February 7: The CPI-Maoist blew up railway tracks to enforce their 72-hour bandh (general shut down) near Rajla station on Jhaja-Jasidih section of East Central Railway in Jamui District. The blast damaged railway tracks up to a stretch of about four metres on the down line and two metres on the up line. The train movement was consequently paralyzed completely for about 10-12 hours.

February 9: The CPI-Maoist cadres blew up the Howrah-Delhi railway track at Narganjo railway station in Jamui. The Maoists blew up a track in the same area just two days ago.

February 10: The CPI-Maoist cadres set two vehicles ablaze, to enforce its call for north Bihar bandh (shutdown) but none was injured. The CPI-Maoist cadres set ablaze a jeep at Samhouti village and a sand laden truck at Aaatkali village during the bandh, which was called to protest the rape of a woman. The woman is said to be a CPI-Maoist supporter and was allegedly raped in East Champaran District recently.

Two CPI-Maoist cadres were arrested at Bagwans in Banka District. A looted Police rifle, 30 rounds of cartridge and eight mobile chargers were recovered from their possession.

February 12: The STF and local Police recovered firearms and ammunition from hideouts of the CPI-Maoist at Chormara village in Bheembandh forest area of Munger and Jamui Districts.

Two Maoist sisters, Geeta Murmu and Anju Murmu, arrested earlier in Banka, said they were sexually exploited in the Maoist camps.

February 13: Three cadres of the CPI-Maoist and a Police officer were killed in an encounter at Manjhiawan village under the Konch Police station of Gaya District. The killed Police officer, Mithilesh Prasad, was the officer-in-charge of Tekari Police Station.

February 15: Four cadres of the CPI-Maoist were arrested from two separate places. While three Maoists were arrested from Mahuar village under Haspura Police station in Aurangabad District, the fourth Maoist, a 'zonal commander', was arrested from a village under Bikram Police station in Patna District.

February 16: Chief Minister Nitish Kumar while commenting on the Maoist attack at Shilda in West Bengal said, "Maoists cannot be countered by force. All round development and launching of welfare measures can bring the ultras back to the mainstream."

February 17: At least 12 villagers, including three women and one child, were killed when nearly 150 heavily-armed cadres of the CPI-Maoist attacked Phulwariya village in Jamui District. Four of a family was charred to death while others were shot dead. Those killed were Kora tribals and the attack was in retaliation of the alleged killing of eight Maoists by the Koras on January 31 at the instigation of one Lakhan Kora, suspected by the Maoists of being a Police informer. The Maoists triggered explosions and also set 30 houses ablaze. The whereabouts of Lakhan are not known. While the Police say he survived the attack, this could not be confirmed from local sources.

February 21: Suspected CPI-Maoist cadres blew up a state-run school building at Maheshwari village in Jamui District.

February 23: The CPI-Maoist cadres killed Basudeo Singh (55), a farmer of Hasanpur village under Rajepur Police station in Motihari District, suspecting him to be a Police informer. Police recovered four posters, 12 empty cartridges of 9 mm pistol, two live cartridges and one live cartridge of a Self Loading Rifle (SLR) from the spot.

Armed cadres of the CPI-Maoist set ablaze two vehicles and equipment of two private construction companies engaged in road construction at Mauar Khaira and Hawai villages in Aurangabad District, apparently for not meeting extortion demand.

March 1: Maoists slit the throat of one Rajo Hansda at Bagdhasba village under Belhar block (administrative division) in the Banka District, suspecting him to be a Police informer.

March 2: Cadres of the CPI-Maoist killed a village guard and a villager, identified as Kameswar Mandal and Kailash Pundit respectively, at Goghaldiha village in Kharagpur Police Station of Munger District, suspecting them to be Police informers.

Maoists attacked a brick kiln in Bheldi Police Station area of Saran District and set two tractors ablaze.

March 5: The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) decided to send 2,000 more Paramilitary Force personnel, trained in jungle warfare, to Bihar and Jharkhand to help the Police counter the Left Wing Extremist (LWE) violence.

The State Minister for Water Resources Development Brijendra Prasad Yadav told the State assembly that Bihar Government will provide INR 150, 000 as compensation to the family of the 11 villagers killed by the Communist Party of India- Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres at Phulwari- Korsai village in Jamui District on February 18.

March 6: The Security Forces (SFs) neutralised a CPI-Maoist bunker at Birma area in Banka District. However, the CPI-Maoist cadres managed to escape. But they left behind two rifles which they had looted from the Police, one 9-mm foreign made regular pistol, 100 cartridges of different bores, three country-made pistols and ammunition, one cane-bomb weighing 20 kilograms and Maoist literature.

March 8: Altogether 160 civilians and 77 Police personnel were killed in 338 Naxal (left wing extremist) strikes during the past four years in Bihar, the State Government informed the Assembly. Replying to a query, Minister in charge of Home Affairs Brijendra Prasad Yadav said out of the 40 Districts in the State, 33 are Naxal-affected and a total of 160 civilians and 77 Policemen were killed in 338 Maoist attacks during the past four years.

While 49 civilians and eight Policemen were killed in 63 Naxal attacks in 2006, 39 people and 23 Policemen were killed in 73 attacks by the Naxals in 2007, the Minister told the House. The Naxals killed 43 civilians and 21 Policemen in 79 attacks during 2008 and in 2009 the insurgents killed 29 people and 25 Police personnel in 123 attacks.

March 11: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar urged Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram to stop communicating with the Left Wing Extremists (LWEs) via the media.

March 12: CRPF patrol party escaped a landmine explosion on a road near Rajhania in Jamui District. Sukar Yadav, a passer-by, was critically injured in the blast.

March 13: Suspected cadres the CPI-Maoist set ablaze a JCB machine and one tractor of a road construction company at Dumraon in Buxar District.