Ultras Blow up Government Office in Motihari

Patna: July 5, 2008

Domestic extremists affiliated with a number of hard-core left outfits in Motihari district on early Saturday morning blew up the Tetaria block office causing extensive damage to the building while creating a panic in the region just days before the scheduled arrival of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

The latest act of violence by ultra Maoist rebels comes in the wake of the Bihar bandh called by them to protest recent police crackdowns on the ultras and the arrests of their area commanders Ratnakar and Devendra Sahni a few weeks ago, Superintendent of Police (SP) N. H. Khan said.

The incident occurred at around 1:00 am on Saturday morning when more than 200 Naxalites surrounded the block office and rigged it with cane bombs causing explosions that parts of the building landed more than 50 feet away from its original site, the police said.

Senior police officials including the SDO and the DSP were camping in the area to monitor any new development even as the administration launched a massive combing operation in the region to arrest the criminals.