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Maoists blew up a village council official building (Panchayat) in Hatepochra village of Latehar , Jharkhand, on Thursday. Rameshwar, the village council head, expressed shock over the incident. He said, “We came to know about the incident by the villagers that the Maoists have blown apart the village council building and then I came here and saw that the entire back portion of the building is destroyed. Now, I have informed about the incident in the police station but now proceeding towards police station to lodge a complaint in writing.” He further added that a complaint has been lodged in the local police station. “We were sleeping and suddenly their was a blast due to which our children fell down and when we came out of our houses and saw the we could see anything but in morning we came to know that Maoists have blown apart the village council building,” said Shejaad Ansari, a villager. Maoists had earlier opened fire on a bus in Latehar, Jharkhand, critically injuring three passengers on June 27. Maoists have called a 24 hours shut down to protest against operation 'Green Hunt' initiated by the armed forces of the central government. They have been trying to strengthen their base by rounding up school children, confiscating their educational certificates and compelling them to join the group. Maoists have a significant presence in the tribal and rural regions of Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Orissa.

Maoists blow up panchayat building in Jharkhand