Mixed response to Maoist shutdown call in Bihar

A strike call by Maoists evoked mixed response in Bihar Saturday as normal life was hit in some rural areas but urban areas were largely unaffected, police said.

The police said barring stray incidents, the strike call in Bihar and Jharkhand to protest the killing of Maoists in Odisha in past few weeks passed off peacefully.

"Fear of Maoists forced closure of rural area markets in Gaya, Aurangabad, Arwal, Jehanabad and other districts. Vehicles stayed off roads and common people suffered," a police official said.

Police officials admitted that life in some rural pockets, known as Maoist strongholds, was paralysed, as neither shops nor banks opened.

Despite police deployment and the administration's promise of security cover, shopkeepers downed their shutters.

This created difficulties for people in villages on the first day of Navratra, ahead of Durga Puja.

Railway stations across the state were alerted and the railway police told to increase patrolling and deploy additional forces.