Bhagalpur, July 28: Residents of Karaili and other villages under Maoist-affected Dharhara block are a panic-stricken lot because of the daylong strike called by the banned outfit today.

The Naxalites have called the bandh to observe martyrdom week from today to August 3, in memory of Charu Mazumdar, the pioneer of the extreme Left movement in the country.

As a result of the strike, markets and other business establishments remained closed. Traffic was sparse. A resident of Dharhara said: “The villagers are panic-stricken and prefer to remain home.”

Residents of villages falling under Bangalwa panchayat also preferred to remain at home after the Maoists threatened them, especially the special police officers (SPOs) and informers, with dire consequence on posters they put up all over.

“The posters did not disclose any names but claimed that five people from the area were friends of the police. The Maoists threatened to eliminate these five people,” said a source.

The source added that the posters warned the people not to help the police and to celebrate the martyrdom week as khuni kranti (bloody revolution).

Senior police officers of eastern Bihar, including Bhagalpur zone inspector-general of police A.K. Ambedkar, went to Dharhara yesterday to review the security measures.

They assured the villagers of protection and policing. Ambedkar also instructed the officers concerned to establish a permanent police picket at Karaili yesterday.

Special Auxiliary Police personnel had set up a temporary picket in the village after the July 2 incident, when the Maoists had attacked the village, killed six residents including, two SPOs, and abducted 11 youths.

Ambedkar and other senior officers like his deputy Anil Kishore Yadav and Munger superintendent of police P. Kannan visited Karaili.

The IG instructed the officers to keep a strict vigil on the situation.

He also urged the residents to help the police to eliminate the rebels.

Villagers, however, blamed the police for not arresting the culprits of the July 2 incidents.

“We had identified many of the members of the outfit who raided our village on July 2. Most of them were from the neighbouring Yadav-dominated villages. However, to our utter surprise, we found that many of the named accused were moving about freely in places like Bangalwa and Kaithwan,” said a villager at Saradhi.