Naxalites blow up railway track, raid station

Naxalites targeted the railway network during the 24-hour bandh called by them in Jharkhand and Bihar, blowing up a stretch of the railway track today and holding employees of a station captive after a raid.

Ranchi/Aurangabad: Naxalites targeted the railway network during the 24-hour bandh called by them in Jharkhand and Bihar, blowing up a stretch of the railway track today and holding employees of a station captive after a raid.

Armed Naxalites blasted a two-metre stretch of railway track at Choudary-Baandh in Giridih district in Jharkhand in the early hours today, disrupting train services in the Dhanbad division. The Naxalites had called the bandh to protest against the killing of eight of their associates in an encounter near Garwah earlier this month.

The Maoists also set afire a truck at Tamar, about 50 kilometer from Ranchi. According to reports, several long distances vehicles were off the roads due to the bandh, affecting loading and unloading at mineral sites.

In Bihar's Aurangabad district, over 200 heavily armed Maoists raided Fesar railway station and held its five employees captive last night. Rail traffic on the Aurangabad- Mughalsarai section of the East Central Railway was disrupted for more than two hours, police sources said, adding the employees were later freed from captivity.

In the wake of the Maoist attack at Jhajha station, all railway stations in the state have been put on high alert and the government railway police and railway protection force personnel have been advised to move in groups during the physical search of all important trains, the sources said. (PTI)

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