Patna, March 17 (IANS) The Bihar government has doubled the reward money for 20 wanted activists of the banned Communist Party of India-Maoist.

Now, the reward money has been upped to Rs.3 lakh in the case of Vijay Kumar Arya alias Jaipal and Rs.2 lakh for Jagdish Yadav alias Masterji. The two operate in Aurangabad and Gaya districts, police said.

The reward money for Sitaram Rajwar has been raised to Rs.1 lakh. Informants who help in getting Vijay Yadav and Birender Yadav arrested will get Rs.50,000.

The government last week admitted that 33 of the 40 districts were affected by Maoist violence. According to Bihar police chief Neelmani, 1,881 Maoists were arrested between 2006 and 2009.