Steep rise in Naxal attacks on Railway property

According to the figures issued by the Railways, there were 58 Naxal attacks in 2009 and South Eastern Railway alone registered 30 incidents under its jurisdiction. These included the attack on the Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express near Jhargram.

The Railways had reported 30 Naxal attacks in 2008 as compared to 56 the previous year, a senior Railway official said. But the figures again went up in 2009 due to the jump in Naxals targeting rails under SER, he said.

Most of the attacks were in the form of rail tracks being blown up or stations being bombed, he added.