The Maoists allegedly threatened to eliminate Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Aurangabad MP Sushil Kumar Singh and Bihar ruling party Janata Dal United (JDU) leader Ranvijay Kumar Singh on Thursday.
A most wanted Maoist Abhyas Bhuiyan alias Prem Bhuiyan surrendered before the security forces on Thursday.
According to the police, handwritten posters were put up and several pamphlets bearing the threat were scattered in the Goh area of Aurangabad district in the traditional left-wing extremist style.
The posters demanded a canal in the area and prohibited Sushil from venturing out into the district. They also alleged that Ranvijay, who is a former MLA, was of feudal mentality and would be bombed in his office.
While Sushil was busy attending the ongoing budget session of Parliament in Delhi and did not respond to calls made to him, Ranvijay told reporters that he was not afraid of any such threat.
“I have been fighting against the Maoists for over four decades. They have lost their strength and relevance. The operations launched by the security forces have rendered them ineffective,” Ranvijay said.
Sources said that Sushil has been on the hit list of the Maoists for a long time now. He is a landlord and they view him as an exploiter and oppressor of the poor.
Aurangabad SP Swapna Gautam Meshram told The Telegraph: “We received a pamphlet on WhatsApp in which threats have been issued to the present Aurangabad MP and a former MLA. We have constituted a team led by additional superintendent of police (ASP) (Operations) and it is verifying it. Investigations are going on. The MP is not present here right now and we would be registering an FIR in the incident once he returns.”
Meanwhile, Bhuiyan, a member of the regional committee of the banned CPI (Maoist), surrendered with arms and ammunition before Gaya senior superintendent of police (SSP) Ashish Bharti and CRPF 159 battalion commandant Kumar Mayank on Thursday.
Bhuiyan, 34, is a resident of the Chatra district in neighbouring Jharkhand. He became a Naxal in 2003 and was active since then. He was promoted to the rank of regional commander in 2015.
“Bhuyianwas involved in dozens of incidents of murder, loot of weapons and other serious offences in Bihar and Jharkhand. There are at least 21 cases pending against him in different police stations in Bihar. “The Jharkhand government had announced Rs 15lakh reward on his arrest while the Bihar government had put up a reward of Rs 25,000 on him,” Gaya SSP Bharti said.