Striking for the second time this week, heavily-armed Maoists swooped down on Kasari village in the Bihar's Jamui district, set afire thatched houses and fired a hail of bullets, leaving 12 tribals dead and eight others injured.
Around 125 heavily-armed ultras stormed the village last night, set afire houses and then opened fire, Deputy Inspector General of Police (Bhagalpur range) Amit Kumar, said.
Four of a family were charred to death in a blazing hut while others died of gunshot injuries. The deceased belonged to the Kora tribe.
The attack was said to be in retaliation against the recent killings of eight activists of the proscribed CPI (Maoist) allegedly by the villagers, according to leaflets left by the ultras at the spot
The attack comes close on the heels of the Maoists attack an a EFR camp in West Bengal's West Midnapore district that left 24 jawans dead.
Nearly 100 Maoists armed with sophisticated weapons had exploded landmines near the Silda camp before barging inside with a volley of fire on February 15.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar ordered the state home department's Principal Secretary Amir Subhani and Director General of Police Anand Shankar to visit the spot and submit a report soon.
He announced that the state government would provide Rs one lakh compensation to the dependents of each of the deceased, while the injured persons would receive Rs 20,000 or Rs 50,000 depending on the nature of their injury.
The injured have been admitted to hospitals at Sikandra and Jamui, where the condition of five persons was stated to be critical.
Maoists had given a three-day bandh call in eastern part of Bihar to protest the killing of their activists. The bandh ended last night. PTI
