Bihar: Maoists blow up mobile towers

Maoists blew up two mobile telephone towers in Bihar's Gaya district Thursday to enforce a 24-hour strike called by them to protest the alleged killing of their members by security forces.

A police official said a dozen armed men used dynamites to blow up the towers of a private telecom operator at Dumaria in Gaya, about 100 km from here.

According to police officials in Muzaffarpur, about 70 km from here, Maoists also torched a private bus and blew up a mobile tower. No casualty was reported.

The Maoist strike call evoked mixed response in the state. Normal life was hit in some rural areas but urban areas were largely unaffected.