Newari (Jharkhand), Dec.8 (ANI): In yet another attempt to disrupt the election process, Maoists blew upa school building in Latehar district of poll-bound Jharkhand state.

At night, the rebels attacked the school which was a polling centre for the Assembly election scheduled for December 18

“The incident took place around 12 (IST) midnight. We came in the morning and saw. Around 400-450 children attend this school,” Vijay Singh, a local said.

The Maoists have increased attacks on railways, power and telecommunication networks to halt economic development.

The Government banned Maoist organisations saying they were propagating violence.

The rebels, who claim to be fighting for the rights of poor farmers and landless labourers, are expanding their influence in the rural areas of east, central and southern India. They have sophisticated arms and ammunition, assault rifles and communication tools.

Thousands have been killed in the Maoist insurgency, which began in the late 1960s and which Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described as one of the gravest home grown threats to internal security. (ANI)