Gaya, Bihar:
Five people have been killed in two separate incidents of Maoist violence - one at a highway toll plaza in Gaya in Bihar and the second in Orissa.
In a fierce overnight encounter, armed Maoists shot dead a private security guard and a truck driver and looted weapons from a government toll plaza at Mahapur in Bihar's Gaya district.
Superintendent of Police Sushil Khopde said over 200 heavily armed Maoists swooped on the toll plaza spraying bullets and hurling bombs killing one of the guards.
They looted 16 pieces of weapons, including rifles and carbines, besides several rounds of ammunition from the guards providing security to the plaza.
The Maoists also set the toll plaza on fire before leaving the spot, Khopde said.
Meanwhile, three policemen were also killed in an encounter near Parlakhen in Orissa.
The Maoists also blew up a control room and destroyed two vehicles of Essar Steel in Malkangiri district. (With PTI inputs)