Stay off Jharkhand polls, Maoists warn people

Maoist rebels have put up posters in Latehar district of Jharkhand, calling upon people to spurn the initiatives of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Home Minister P Chidambaram.

The posters signed by the Communist Party of India (Maoist) also asked the people to stay away from the democratic process.

"We did not see who pasted these posters. The posters read 'push back Sonia Gandhi and other leaders'," said Virendra, a local villager.

The first phase of the polls for Jharkhand legislative assembly will begin from November 25.

The Maoists have stepped up violence across the eastern and central India and internal security experts say this indicates a growing dominance of the insurgents in the country.

Maoist rebels regularly attack goods trains and have in the past even hijacked a few local passenger trains in remote districts of the country before fleeing.

Last week, the Maoists had hijacked the New Delhi-bound Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express, which was freed later after a five-hour hostage drama.

Dr Singh had a few days ago warned the rebels, who have managed to retain support among a cross-section of society and have come up as the biggest internal security threat.