The government claims Maoist activities have gone down in about half of the state’s rebel-hit districts since March last year.

Twenty-three districts are covered under the Centre’s security-related expenditure scheme. According to records with the state police headquarters, 11 of them, including Patna, West Champaran (also Bagaha, which is a police district) and Sitamarhi, have not recorded any Maoist violence in the past one-and-a-half years.

State police officers said the government’s multi-pronged strategy — carrying out development work and implementing social welfare schemes while conducting operations against the Maoists in the districts — was the reason behind the decline in attacks.

The Centre has, however, expressed concern over decline in the arrest of hardcore Maoists in Bihar. It wrote a letter to the state in the first week of August, expressing concern over the substantial decline in the number of arrests of hardcore Maoists operating in Bihar. The letter addressed to the state chief secretary said the number of arrests was almost half compared to figures in 2011 and 2010.

According to the records with the headquarters, eight districts — Vaishali, Muzaffarpur, Jamui, Munger, Lakhisarai, Rohtas, Kaimur, Banka — have registered only a few incidents and four have recorded three to four incidents, on average, of violence and loot of weapons from security personnel.

Inspector-general of police (operations) Amit Kumar said: “Only Gaya, Aurangabad, Jamui and parts of Nawada are cause for concern so far as Maoist incidents are concerned.

That too because major parts of these districts are covered with hilly terrains and dense forests.”

He added: “It is true that the number of arrests of hardcore Maoists has reduced in the past year. But, it doesn’t mean the operation is proceeding at snail’s pace. Several top-ranking Maoist leaders with huge reward on their heads have been arrested.”