Maoists gunned down three persons and injured three others at Aamkola village in the district late on Sunday night.

Of the three killed under Mohanpur police station area, one was Sanjay Yadav, the chief of Shashastra People’s Morcha, a breakaway faction of the CPI(Maoist). The rebels killed the trio accusing them of being police informers.

Around 11pm, a cultural programme was on when around 100 armed Maoists reached the venue and started firing indiscriminately on a gathering of around 200 villagers. At least 200 rounds were fired in the air before Sanjay Yadav, Bhuneshwar Yadav and Surendra Yadav were shot down.

Sanjay was on the Maoists’ hit list since long. The rebels had made a futile bid on Sanjay’s life in Gaya town’s Anugrah Puri Colony in 2010 also. On Sunday, the rebels looted a rifle, a pistol and cartridges from Sanjay’s vehicle before torching it and fleeing.

Sanjay’s cousin, Manoj Kumar, Jogendra Yadav and Pintu Ansari were seriously injured in the firing. Manoj was admitted to Anugrah Narayan Medical College and Hospital with a bullet injury in the leg. Gaya senior superintendent of police Nishant Kumar Tiwari said: “The rebels set Sanjay up by inviting him to the soiree.”