Lohiya Samta High School in Ketar, Garhwa which was blown up by Maoists on Friday. Picture by Saikat Chatterjee

Ranchi, June 18: Maoist terror returned to haunt Garhwa district after a brief lull with a group of 25-30 armed rebels blowing up a private high school in Ketar village under Bhavnathpur police station, around 80km from the district headquarters, late last night.

No one was injured in the incident, which is being seen as a protest against the arrest of a Maoist politburo member. The place of attack is close to Bihar’s Sasaram.

The school, Lohiya Samta High School, was one of the oldest private institutions in the area and was apparently targeted by the rebels because it used to receive aid from the government.

The police dubbed the act that has put the academic lives of around 950 students of the school in jeopardy, as ‘cowardly’.

“It was an act of cowardice. Security forces never stayed in that private school, which was set up by the villagers way back in the 1960s through donations,” Garhwa superintendent of police Richard Lakra told The Telegraph. He added that they are trying to ascertain the reasons as to why the rebels targeted that particular school.

Giving details, Bhavnathpur police station officer in charge Tetru Oraon said that the buildings were blown up around 11pm yesterday.

“Six rooms in two buildings were completely damaged in the IED triggered explosion,” Oraon said.

The armed Naxalites are also alleged to have snatched away a torch and Rs 1,500 in cash from assistant teacher Ambika Pal before blasting the building.

In a separate incident, suspected rebels also torched a bus in Bhikampur village of Gumla today morning. “The bus was torched after some youths stopped it and asked the passengers to get down. We are yet to ascertain whether it was the act of the Maoists or some other splinter group,” said Gumla superintendent of police N.K. Singh.

The Maoists had also torched three drilling machines of a Nagpur-based company, engaged in coal exploration work in Jalta-Parashi village yesterday. The company, which was hunting for coal in the area, was supposed to submit a report to the geology department about the setting up of mines.

The incident, which brought exploration work to a complete halt in the region, also spread panic among the drilling workers who have reportedly fled the spot.

Interestingly, a similar exploration work being carried out by the state geology department in West Singhbhum was also brought to a halt after villagers of Jagannathpur attacked a group of geologists last month.

In other related incidents, the rebels torched three three mobile towers in Hariharganj police station area of Palamau district and dug up a road connecting Chatra’s Kanhachatti block with Tulbul and other villages, thus affecting close to 15,000 villagers.

Red terror

Private school blown up in Garhwa

Bus torched in Gumla

Drilling machines set on fire in Latehar

Mobile towers targeted in Palamau

Road dug up in Chatra