Patna, Aug. 9: The activists of the CPI(Maoist) seem to have intensified their attack on tribals, particularly those belonging to Kharwar community, following a combined operation launched by the security personnel in the bordering districts of Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh.

The armed members of the proscribed outfit killed Dashrath Kharwar, one of the two farmers abducted from Piparadih village under Nauhatta police station in Rohtas district, on Saturday midnight and dumped his body near Dabua turning, adjacent to his native village.

The fate of another victim, Brij Bihari Kharwar, is not known. Residents, however, claimed that the Maoists let off Brij Bihari after being ‘punished’ at a kangaroo court held at a nearby village on Sunday.

Station house officer of Nauhatta police station Shambhu Narayan Jha said a police team had been sent to recover the body of Dashrath Kharwar. “The police left for the spot after receiving information about the death of one of the two persons abducted by the Maoists,” he said.

A middle-aged woman, Shivanti Devi, said to be wife of Shyam Sundar Kharwar, was killed in indiscriminate firing near Bajar turning. The villagers suspected she received a gunshot injury when she had gone to attend nature’s call in the field.

It could not be immediately known whether bullets fired by the rebels or by the police killed her. Local residents said the security personnel, who were in large numbers, were seen proceeding towards thick forest after opening fire. The shots were perhaps fired by the members of the road opening party (ROP).

Rohtas superintendent of police Manu Maharaj could not be contacted, as he is busy in a special operation against the rebels in Dhansa valley and its adjoining areas. “It is a three-day drive aimed at creating a sense of security in the minds of the people living on the hills,” a police officer said.

The state government has directed the Rohtas district magistrate to make proper arrangements for the people who have fled their homes and taken shelter at different places out of fear of the Maoists.