Suspected Maoists torch gram panchayat in Maharashtra

Gondia (Maharashtra), May 16 (IANS) A gram panchayat building was burnt down by suspected Maoists in the remote village of Toyagondi in Gondia district in eastern Maharashtra, police said here Wednesday.

'The gram panchayat building was burnt down and a cabin of BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd.) tower was destroyed late Tuesday night,' an official from Salekasa police station, under whose jurisdiction Toyagondi falls, told IANS.

While sources said it was the handiwork of Maoists hours ahead of Wednesday's nationwide strike called by them, police said they were investigating to ascertain if Maoists were responsible for the incident.

Sources said that a group of armed Maoists first vandalised the gram panchayat building and later set it ablaze.

Handwritten pamphlets were also stuck on trees, electric polls and several other spots, asking people to support the Maoist shutdown to make it successful.

Toyagondi is around 60 km from the district headquarters of Gondia in the Vidarbha region of the state.