A deserted bus stand in Gaya on Thursday and (below) the control room at Nadaul railway station blown up by the Maoists on Wednesday night. Pictures by Suman and Birbhadra

Muzaffarpur, June 16: To enforce the 24-hour bandh in protest against the arrest of CPI (Maoist) politburo member Jagdish Yadav alias Jagdish Master, Maoists unleashed a reign of terror in Gaya, Jehanabad, Muzaffarpur, Sitamarhi and Sheohar districts today.

In Gaya, the Maoists blew up seven mobile towers and attacked a police station in the remote areas, while in Jehanabad they set on fire the building of a railway station.

Around 50 Maoists swooped down on the Nadaul railway station in Jehenabad district last night when the Ganga-Damodar Express was approaching the outer signal and barged into the stationmaster’s room, police sources said.

Nadaul station falls on the Patna-Gaya railway section under Danapur division of east-central railways. The Maoists ransacked the railway station at around 1.30am on Thursday and set on fire a portion of the control room and the booking counter. According to the stationmaster of Nadaul, Rajesh Kumar, most of the documents in the control room and the booking counter, including Rs 5,700 cash and tickets, were reduced to ashes. The Maoists held captive the railway employees during their operation. The rebels also took with them the stationmaster to a nearby field but freed him about half-an-hour later.

In Gaya, Maoists blew up as many as seven mobile towers, including four at Imamganj, two at Dobhi and one at Bankebazaar block. Two mobile towers each at Imamganj bazaar and at Pankadih village under Imamganj block, at Tilaiya village under Bankebazaar and two at Dobhi block were blown up during the Maoists’ operation.

Gaya city superintendent of police (SP) Ratnamani Sanjeev said the Maoists planted explosives to blow up the towers. Maoists also attacked the Kothi police station and fired at least 500 rounds targeting the police. The cops also retaliated and fired at least 150 rounds that forced the rebels to retreat, the SP said.

Meanwhile, regular life was disrupted in the Maoist-hit areas of Muzaffarpur, Sitamarhi and Sheohar districts in north Bihar today.

Minapur, Shivaipatti and Turki in Muzaffarpur, Sursand, Pupri, Belsand, Riga in Sitamarhi, Parihar, Bathnaha and Bajpatti in Sheohar district wore a deserted look. All the markets and business activities were shut fearing backlash from the rebels.

Private and public vehicles, including buses and trucks on Muzaffarpur-Minapur road, Muzaffarpur-Sitamarhi road and Muzaffarpur- Sheohar road, were off the road. A few buses of Bihar State Road Transport Corporation (BSRTC) were, however, seen on the road. The Maoists had torched two trucks at Dera Chowk in Minapur in April when they were plying on the day of a bandh called by them. All the village markets in Turki Bazaar, Gangti, Dera Chowk, Shivaipatti, Sanichra Asthan falling under Minapur block of the district remained closed.

Members of CPI (Maoist) distributed leaflets and pamphlets and declared to avenge the arrest of Jagdish. The district police seized the leaflets and pamphlets circulated by the rebels in various villages of Minapur. Deputy superintendent of police (east) Shibli Nomani said: “We have deployed police in large numbers in Minapur, Shivaipatti, Turki and the bordering areas of the district to prevent the influx of rebels from adjoining districts.”

Nomani said: “Some of the rebels have distributed leaflets to intimidate the people. Police patrolling have been intensified in the Maoist-affected areas of the district.”

The Maoists have also damaged a couple of slabs under railway tracks and torched a generator set of a private mobile tower in Palamau district in Jharkhand, as the banned outfit began its 24-hour shutdown in Jharkhand, Bihar and north Chhattisgarh at midnight.