Maoists blew up a school building in Latehar district of Jharkhand on Sunday. The explosion occurred at around 9.30 p.m. in a government school in Serendag village. No casualty was reported, but the blast destroyed three classrooms.
The red ultras left some hand written letters and pamphlets at the blast site in which they blamed the police for their action.
The letter said that the blast was in retaliation to police damaging the memorial of Maoist leader Bhagwati Singh Kherwal situated in the village. The letter also accused the police of camping inside the school building.
Police rubbished the allegations, saying that the Maoists were "frustrated" because of repeated attacks on them.
"Since last two-three months we have been carrying out intensive operations against the Maoist forces, causing them heavy losses. We have recovered hundreds of their IEDs. And this attack is because of the frustration due to our operation. This shows their anti-development and anti-school character," said Superintendent of Police (SP), Latehar, Anoop Birthare.
The incident has left the villagers anxious about their children's future.
"Where will the children study? What will they do? Should the villagers think about food or about educating their children outside, in town," asked a villager, Prakash Kumar.
Maoists are mostly active in what has come to be known as the "red corridor" from Andhra Pradesh in the south to West Bengal in the east. But they do have some sort of presence in 21 out of 28 states in India.
Governments - both state and federal - are tackling the problem on two fronts: development in remote areas and security. While law and order is essentially a state issue, the federal government has a Naxal Management Division that provides funds, additional security forces, logistics and coordinates between states.
