Bokaro, Dec. 21: Around 100 armed Maoists barged into Palamu village under Nawadih block in the small hours today and blew up a multipurpose community centre in protest against the use of government schools and buildings for sheltering security forces.

The incident came just three days after the rebels blew up a high school building at Tiskopi (Gomia) for the same reason.

The blast led to cracks in a few nearby buildings, including a middle school, and spread panic among residents, mostly day labourers and farmers. However, no injuries were reported, said Bokaro superintendent of police Saket Singh.

The rebels had pledged that all government and school building used for sheltering security forces will be blown up one by one. They had announced this before the Assembly elections, said a villager.

“The Maoists are hell bent on ensuring that the light of education reaches none in this region because they know an ill-informed and illiterate person can easily be brainwash and made a soldier in their nonsensical war against the state.”