Khagaria, October 02: In a midnight attack, heavily-armed suspected Maoists swooped down on a village in Bihar’s Khagaria district and shot dead 16 villagers, mostly teenagers, after tying their hands and feet.
The gunmen pulled the victims out of their huts in Amosi Dharen Biara village, tied their hands and feet and fired at them, ADG Headquarters Neelmani said today.
“Around 100 people, suspected to be Maoists, armed with automatic weapons attacked the village and fired indiscriminately late last night,” Inspector General (Operations) S K Bharadwaj said.
A dispute on cultivation of land is said to be reason behind the attack on the victims belonging to backward caste.
Neelmani said the attack was carried out on the villagers by the suspected naxalites with the intention of grabbing the land.
The victims belonged to Amdaicharua village and had been living in makeshift camps on the land, he said.
–PTI