NEW DELHI: Nearly 260 schools have been destroyed in Naxal violence in Maoist-affected states in the last five years, a Home Ministry report has said.
In another report on violence faced by educational institutions globally, UNESCO has cited various examples of Naxal violence including destruction of 11 schools in Jharkhand and nine schools in Bihar between January and July 2009.
The Home Ministry, in its report, said the highest number of schools hit by Naxal violence was in Chhattisgarh, followed by Jharkhand. While the figure in Chhattisgarh was 131, it was 63 in Jharkhand. 46 schools were destroyed by the Maoists in Bihar between 2006 and November this year.
In 2009, a total of 71 schools were attacked by the Naxals in six Maoist-hit states -- Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. Altogether 59 schools were destroyed by the Naxals in 2006, 43 in 2007, 25 in 2008, 39 in 2010 and 21 in 2011 (till November), it said.
In its worldwide report - Education Under Attack, 2010, UNESCO said that in the whole of 2009, at least 50 schools were attacked in Jharkhand and Bihar as part of Naxals violence.
Maoists also torched the house of a para-teacher in Chowka, Jharkhand, and beat him up, it said.
In April 2009, a boy in Mandar, Jharkhand, was reported to have been tortured for refusing to join the Naxalites' children's brigade. In Bihar, four schools were blown up, the UNESCO said.
Maoists blast school, attack police station
RANCHI: Maoist guerrillas blew up a school, torched mobile towers and attacked a police station in two separate incidents in Jharkhand, police said Tuesday.
According to police, the rebels blasted a middle school at Bodari village in Garhwa district, around 120 km from Ranchi, using IED late Monday. The school building was damaged badly in the blast.
In the second incident, Maoist guerrillas torched two mobile towers in Ramban village and attacked the Hariharganj police station of Palamau district, around 170 km from Ranchi. There were no casualties.
Around 400 Maoists had attacked the police station and a gun battle ensued that lasted for over two hours, police said.
Maoists had called two shutdowns Saturday and Sunday to protest the killing of their leader Kishenji, who was killed in a gunbattle with security forces in West Bengal Nov 25.
In the last three days, Maoist guerrillas also attacked a convoy of Chatra Lok Sabha MP Inder Singh Namdhari and killed 10 policemen in Latehar district, police said. The rebels blasted train tracks at three places in three districts, disrupting railway services.
Maoists set ablaze mobile tower equipment, truck in Odisha
BHUBANESWAR: Maoists Tuesday set ablaze the equipment of a mobile phone tower and a truck in Odisha in two separate incidents, police said.
While 40-50 rebels torched the generator and other equipment of the cell phone tower at Kyang village in Malkangiri district, more than 100 guerrillas set a truck afire near Kharmunda in Bargarh district.
The rebels who are active in more than half of the state have been celebrating People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) week from Dec 2.
"During the celebration they blocked a few roads by felling trees but police and security forces managed to clear the blockades immediately," deputy inspector general of police Soumendra Priyadarshi told IANS.