Araria (Bihar), August 26 : Union Railways Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav on Tuesday sought assistance from the Central Government for Bihar that has been badly hit by floods.

He met Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in New Delhi and sought assistance by way of Air Force helicopters to be pressed into the service.

Gaya (Bihar), Aug 26 : A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawan was killed and three others were injured in an encounter with Maoists in Bihar''s Gaya District today.

According to sources, CRPF Havildar B P Singh was kidnapped and shot dead after an encounter with the Maoist guerrillas at Patthar-Lautia village, around 90 km from Gaya on Monday evening.

Constables Mahipal Singh and R K Shahi, who received bullet injuries in the encounter, were admitted to the Magadh Medical College Hospital Gaya.

Madhepura, Aug 26 (ANI): The swollen Kosi River breaking its embankments and changing course has ravaged many villages on its way to join the river Ganges affecting over a million people in Bihar.

Kosi River flows from Nepal to India and is known as the ''Sorrow of Bihar'' for the havoc it wreaks in many districts of the eastern state each year.

Reports say floods have caused large-scale loss of life and property in six eastern districts of the state following an over 2,000-metre breach in the Kosi embankment in the Nepal region.

New Delhi  - Floods and landslides triggered by heavy monsoon rains have affected nearly 1.5 million people in India's eastern state of Bihar, officials said Monday.

All major rivers are flowing above the danger mark in the state where 33 people have died in rain-related incidents including house collapses.

Electricity supplies, road and train services were disrupted as floods submerged several areas in the state.

New Delhi  - At least six people, including four policemen, were killed in a gun-battle between Maoist insurgents and police in India's eastern state of Bihar on Thursday, a news report said.

A team of the Special Auxillary Police foiled an attempt by the cadre of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) to loot a bank in the Gaya district, 130 kilometres south of state capital Patna.

Senior police official Praveen Basistha told the PTI news agency that the militants opened indiscriminate fire at the police team, leading to the shootout.

Four policemen, a bank customer and a rebel were killed in the shoot-out, he said. Five policemen injured in the encounter were moved to a local hospital for treatment.