(Top) Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi

Bhagalpur, Sept. 29: Naxalites have decided to train their guns, albeit of propaganda, at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Union home minister P. Chidambaram and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. The rebels have accused the senior members of the Union government of curbing the voice of the common man.

Members of CPI(Maoist)’s eastern Bihar and Jharkhand regional committee put up posters last night in a number of villages of Jankidhi panchayat under Chanan police station in the Naxalite-hit Lakhisarai district.

The banned outfit has accused the senior politicians of bad governance and of promoting corruption that ultimately affected common men. The printed poster also alleged that the Union government had evicted innocent villagers from Bastar in Chhattisgarh with the help of paramilitary forces. They also claimed that they would continue their struggle against the “anti-people policy” of the government.

The posters also requested the people to extend all possible support to the organisation and urged the common mass to mobilise themselves against the central government. They also demanded that formed Jharkhand chief minister Babulal Marandi and his brother Nunulal Marandi be hanged in public.

The rebels also slammed the verdict of a local court in Giridhi in which four Maoists were awarded capital punishment for their involvement in the Chilkari massacre.

C.A. Chourasia, the superintendent of police of Lakhisarai was not available for comment but a senior police officer in the district said this was the first time that Maoist posters had targeted the Prime Minister and the Union home minister.

“Naxalite posters are not a new phenomena here but the rebels have targeted the national leaders for the first time,” the officer said on the condition of anonymity.

Atul Mishra, the station house officer of Chanan police station, was also not available for comment. An assistant sub-inspector-rank officer, on the condition of anonymity said such posters had been put up earlier in the villages like Basantpur, Khilaha, Negura Tola, Gangtiya Ghat and others.

“We have recovered some of the posters and destroyed them. Police patrolling has also been intensified in these areas,” he added.