Ranchi, Sep 19 (IANS) Maoist guerrillas are providing training to children in Jharkhand to plant bombs, police said Thursday, after a 10-year-old boy was killed while learning how to plant bombs.
Pardeshi Lohra died Tuesday in Latehar district.
Police said he was part of a group of eight children abducted by Maoists to train them to plant bombs. Some children managed to escape.
A police official involved in anti-Maoist operations told IANS that raising a “children’s army” was not new for Maoists in Jharkhand.
“Earlier, Maoists were using children to get information on police movement. Now they have changed their strategy and are abducting children from villages and training them to plant bombs,” the official said.
Police said there were reports that many children had stopped going to school in some districts fearing abduction by Maoists.
Maoists are active in 18 of Jharkhand’s 24 districts.