Maoists on Wednesday triggered a blast at a railway track and set afire two mobile phone towers and a tractor in Bihar's Jamui district, police said.
The seat had fallen vacant following the death of Chirag Paswan's father and Lok Janshakti Party founder Ram Vilas Paswan. The BJP has nominated former Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi for the seat.
They entered the Bihar poll battle to protect and carry forward their fathers' political legacy, but many of them could not win their own seat though some tasted victory.
Maoists have kidnapped 15 labourers and employees of a private construction company near Balthar Ghat in Jamui district of Bihar, police said on Tuesday. Over 50 ultras stormed into the office of a private firm engaged in construction of a bridge over Bharnar River on Monday night. They took away employees and labourers of the firm at gun point to a forest bordering Giridih district in Jharkhand, Superintendent of Police R N Singh said.
'We expect the movements to come down to a trickle or even to stop at all these places,' says NDRF DG Satya Pradhan.
Maoists on Tuesday morning released seven members of a polling party, who were abducted by them two days ago in Bihar's Jamui district, police said. According to police sources, the seven officials were released by Maoists near Kaukakol area in the district.
Additional Director General of Police Rajwardhan Sharma told rediff.com on Monday, "The Special Task Force has launched a search operation to recover them. Till now there is no trace of them, as their cell phones are switched off."
A purported video of Lok Janshakti Party president Chirag Paswan rehearsing for a video message a day after the death of his father, one of the foremost Dalit leaders Bihar produced after Jagjivan Ram, has gone viral.
The actor-turned-politician whose criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has grown progressively sharper, didn't figure on the BJP's list of candidates for the Lok Sabha polls.
Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan has fielded himself and two close relatives including his son and brother, to contest the Lok Sabha polls in Bihar.
Two poll personnel were killed and two injured on Sunday in a landmine blast triggered by suspected Maoists near Chhurchuriya village in Bihar's Jamui district. The poll personnel were going to Chhurchuriya booth on a tractor when the landmine planted by Maoists went off, sources said. Two poll personnel on duty for the ongoing panchayat polls died on the spot and two others were critically wounded, officials said.
As many as 13 people, including a jawan of the Government Railway Police, were injured when armed robbers opened fire and beat the passengers of an express train with rifle butts near Bhalui halt in Bihar early on Friday morning. The robbers also looted cash and other valuables, worth Rs 2 lakh, from the passengers traveling on the Sealdah-New Delhi Lal Quila Express, Railway officials said. The condition of the jawan, who received a bullet injury, is said to be critical.
Lok Janshakti Party leader Chirag Paswan on Wednesday blamed Janata Dal-United for engineering the split in his party and rejected the decisions taken by the faction headed by his uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras, saying the party's constitution does not authorise them any such power.
With the Maoists continuing to elude the police dragnet, combing operations to trace the three policemen abducted by the Naxals were on Saturday expanded to fresh areas in Bihar's Banka, Kaimur, Jamui, Munger and Lakhisarai districts.
Four suspected Maoists carrying 300 kg ammonium nitrate, a chemical used in manufacturing explosives, were on Friday arrested from Chakai in Bihar's Jamui district bordering Jharkhand, said the police. Acting on a tip-off, the police intercepted a vehicle coming from Jasidih in Jharkhand and seized six sacks, each containing 50 kg of the chemical.The chemical was probably being taken to Charka Pathar in Jharkhand for the local Maoists, sources said.
An estimated 14 per cent voters cast their votes in the early hours of polling in 42 assembly constituencies in Bihar on Monday. To disrupt polling, Maoists triggered a blast in Betia forest and unidentified persons set off four explosions in Danapur. Fourteen per cent of the voters had exercised their franchise till 10 am. Director General of Police Neelmani said Maoists had triggered a blast near a bridge on the Chakai-Jamui main road in Betia jungle.
Six passengers of the 3049 Howrah-Amritsar Express were injured as armed robbers assaulted them and looted cash and valuables worth about Rs 1.5 lakh near Simultala railway station in Bihar's Jamui district on Sunday night, official sources said.
Defying a call by Maoists to boycott the polls, an estimated 51 per cent electorate cast their votes in 42 Assembly seats in Bihar, which saw stray incidents of landmine blast and bomb explosion.
Maoists blew up tracks on the Jhaja-Jasidih section of the East Central Railway in Bihar's Jamui district and killed an alleged police informer in Orissa's Sundergarh district to enforce a 72-hour bandh in five states, on Sunday.
Many eyebrows were raised in Bihar on Monday as news broke of a meeting between Communist Party of India's rising star Kanhaiya Kumar and Ashok Choudhary, a minister and key aide of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
Over 150 Maoist sympathisers along with several hardcore activists were taken into custody from a forest area in Khaira in Bihar's Jamui district on Tuesday.
According to police sources, Maoist rebels attacked Bamdah Bazaar under Chandramandi police station killing two traders and injuring some others.
Suspected Communist Party of India-Maoist guerrillas blew up railway tracks and a portion of government complex housing the office of the block development officer n Bihar's Naxal-hit Jamui district in the wee hours of Friday to protest the recent arrest of its self-styled area commander.
In a major explosives haul in Bihar, the police on Saturday seized 6,000 kg of gelatine in Nawada district from a truck bound for Naxalite-hit districts in the state and arrested seven persons.
It is said that the Maoists are even capable of intercepting the wireless communication of the police. They use simple FM radios to intercept the messages.
Guidelines have been issued by the Commission for safe conduct of the electoral exercise in the midst of the raging COVID-19 pandemic. These guidelines include lowering the maximum number of voters for a polling booth from 1,600 to 1,000, staggering the polling hours and extending postal ballot facility to those above 80.
The Bihar government has launched a massive programme to bring over 23 lakh out-of-school children to educational institutions in the state.
An estimated 57 per cent of the electorate cast their votes in the first phase of the Bihar assembly election in 49 constituencies on a violence-free note on Monday.
Counting's underway and the fate of the candidates is awaited. As we wait for the results with bated breath, here's how your heavyweights are faring for now.
The death of the 74-year-old leader, who was identified with the state's Dalits for over five decades, so near the polls will mean that none of the LJP's rivals will like to attack the party and its young president strongly.
The warrant was issued against the member in connection with the case of "illegal escape" of his brother and party candidate in assembly polls, Vijay Prakash.
The minister was eluding the police for a fortnight after a non-bailable arrest warrant was issued against him for allegedly facilitating the illegal release of his brother from custody.
Yadav had been evading arrest in a case regarding his brother, Vijay Prakash.
Yadav has been charged with aiding the escape of his brother.
Additional Director General of Police Manoj Nath was assigned to probe the release of a Rashtriya Janata Dal candidate and brother of Union Minister of State Jaiprakash Narayan Yadav during the Bihar elections.
Dalits constitute nearly 16 per cent of the vote and 38 seats are reserved for them in the assembly, reports Satyavrat Mishra
In terms of electoral fortunes, in all likelihood, the status quo is not going to change in any significant manner. These six seats from Bihar are unlikely to give any clear signal to UPA, NDA or Federal Front.
Did Nitish Kumar want to return to the Mahagathbandhan 6 months after aligning with the BJP?
The ruling coalition won 125 seats in the 243-member state assembly against 110 clinched by the opposition Grand Alliance to pave the way for a fourth successive term for Kumar in office.
