Maoists strike on day two

Bombs set off on rail tracks in Bihar, Jharkhand

Maoists went on the rampage on Tuesday as they targeted Railways’ assets in Jharkhand and Bihar besides causing a blast in a school building and destroying mobile phone towers to protest against the Centre’s decision to launch an offensive against them.

The armed Maoists blasted railway tracks between McCluskieganj and Mahuamilan in Jharkhand’s Latehar district which caused 11 rakes of a goods train to derail, Railway PRO Amrendra Das said. The incident occurred  around 2:40 pm.

“Following the incident, the up and down line of Central Indian Cord (CIC) has been blocked due to the blast” Das told Deccan Herald.
The driver and staff of the train were unhurt, he said. The blast disrupted services on the up and down lines.

The violence occurred during the second day of the two-day shutdown called by the CPI-Maoist.

Railway tracks were also blasted by another group of 100 Naxals between Dania and Jageshwarbihar railway stations with overhead traction wires blown off under its impact, Das said.

The Maoists also damaged three classrooms by setting off a dynamite at  Nawadih Middle School building in Chatra district, according to Superintendent of Police D B Sharma. “A group of armed Maoists blew up the Nawadih Middle School building using dynamites and, as a result, three rooms of the school were badly damaged,” Sharma said.
However, no casualty was reported.

In Bihar’s Lakhisarai district, around 150 ultras stormed the Banshipur railway station and torched a railway panel room and destroyed the traffic control system, official sources said.

The Maoists also took hostage six railway officials, the station master and his assistant, but freed them later with a warning not to allow trains to run.
In Bihar’s Munger district, over 100 ultras blasted a dynamite at a block office at Sangrampur, which led parts of the building to collapse. The ultras also raided a newly built block office at Bandhu Bagicha under Chanan police station in the district and set ablaze files and documents.

Mobile towers
They also targeted mobile phone towers in both  states. In Aurangabad in Bihar, the rebels partially destroyed the tower of a private telecom company at Padaiya village in the wee hours, official sources said. Another mobile tower was blasted by them at Bankepur Bazaar in Gaya district.
In Jharkhand, ultras damaged four private mobile phone towers. Generator sets and machinery rooms of four private mobile towers — one at Chando village in Palamau district and three in Gumla district’s Toto village were destroyed.
The bundh hit rail and road transport even in rural Jharkhand affecting production and transportation of minerals. Most long distance state and private buses and other heavy vehicles remained off the road.
DHNS & Agencies