Vijay Yadav’s house at Baburamdih village that was blown up by rebels in March. Picture by Suman

Ramdev Yadav and Matia Devi have been eagerly waiting to see son Vijay back home at Baburamdih village under Imamganj police station in the district.

Equally eager are police.

While the couple in their late sixties hope that their sufferings would be over once Vijay returns, the cops want to catch him the moment he reaches the village.

Vijay Yadav, alias Sandeep Yadav, alias Rupesh Yadav, the “zonal commander” of the CPI(Maoist), is on the run ever since he was named the prime accused for the murder of former Gaya MP Rajesh Kumar during the 2005 Assembly elections. He was also accused of trying to set ablaze the helicopter of former BJP president Venkaiah Naidu the same year.

“We are tired of facing the men-in-uniform, who come to our home regularly in search of Vijay. Besides, we have become a target of a frontal group of the CPI-Maoist, the Tritiya Prastuti Committee,” said Ramdev, pointing out to the rooftop of their house that was blown up by rebels belonging to the splinter organisation.

“During Holi festivities in the first week of March this year, rebels belonging to the Maoist frontal group triggered an explosion on our house. Besides, the cops frequently raid our house in search of Vijay. But we cannot convince them that we are not aware of his whereabouts for over 10 years,” he added.

Vijay, a graduate from Mahesh Singh Yadav College (Gaya), joined the CPI(Maoist) about 15 years ago and rose fast in the outfit to become the “zonal commander”.

However, his rise in the outfit turned out to be a bane for his family, who find it difficult today to survive. “My younger son, Dhanik Lal Mandal, his wife Gudia Devi and their two children live with us. It has become extremely difficult to support the family,” Ramdev said.

“On not finding Vijay, the police harass us. They had even put Dhanik in jail for a year. On March 25, CoBRA jawans conducted a raid in the village in search of Vijay. Failing to find him, they demolished an under-construction house that is coming up on a plot adjacent to the old house,” he added.

Several youths of the village have also migrated to Haryana, Punjab and Delhi in search of jobs. “We fear the security personnel and the Maoists as well. They keep on targeting our village,” a youth said.

Deputy inspector-general (DIG) of police (Magadh range) Nayyer Hasnain Khan told The Telegraph that the motive of the security personnel has never been to target the innocent people. “If there is a complaint that the CoBRA jawans have demolished the building, I will take up the matter with CRPF officials,” the DIG said.

Figures available with security forces reveal altogether 140 suspected Maoists have been arrested in the Magadh division in the past two years — 56 in 2010-11 and 84 in 2011-12.

Some of those arrested were frontline Maoist leaders like Surendra Yadav, alias Bhurkund Ji, alias Raushan and Heman Yadav, alias Kheman Yadav, alias Burhwa, alias Kaka.