Maoists blew up a school building in Jharkhand's Palamau district, half-an-hour before their 24-hour shutdown began in three states, police said here on Sunday.
The incident happened at Kanda village when a group of armed Maoists stuffed explosives in the school building around 11:30 pm last on Saturday and triggered the blast, they said.
Meanwhile, security has been beefed up following the shutdown called by the rebels in Jharkhand, Bihar and Chhattisgarh to protest the arrest of one of their top leader, Rajesh alias Uday, in Ranchi two days ago.
Rajesh carried a reward of Rs 5 lakh on his head and was wanted in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh in connection with various cases of Naxal violence.
This is the seventh shutdown called by the Maoists this year.