Maoists target railway tracks near Jamshedpur, train movement disrupted in CKP division

Jamshedpur, Nov 20: Maoist rebels blasted railway tracks and disrupted traffic in different parts of the State disrupted train movement in various zones.The rebel outfit has given a Bharat Bandh call which came into effect from midnight. The all India bandh was to protest the recent arrest of politburo member Prashant Bose alias Kishan Da. He was carrying a bounty of Rs One crore on his head, by the Jharkhand Police.

CPI- Maoist rebels triggered a blast on the railway tracks at Lotapahar in South Eastern Railway’s Chakradharpur railway division in the small hours of Saturday, disrupting train services on the Howrah-Mumbai main line passing through Tatanagar railway station. The spot of the blast falls between Sonua and Chakradharpur in neighbouring West Singhbhum district.

Prashant Bose was the mastermind behind more than 100 incidents of attack and arson in Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra.

Sources said after the blast train movement came to a halt on both the Up and Dn lines. A team of railway police police comprising Railway Protection Force and Government Railway Police reached the spot around 3 am. A bomb disposal squad was also rushed to the spot.

Tatanagar station director H K Balmuchu said all trains in that route were running late as they were detained at various stations after the blast. The Mumbai- Howrah Mail which had a narrow escape reached eight hours late at the Tatanagar railway station.

Similarly, the Howrah-bound Geetanjali Superfast Express, Howrah-  Ahmedabad Express and several other long distance trains in that route were running late.

The RPF jointly with the government railway police and CRPF have launched a massive operation to get hold of the Maoists however there is no report of any arrest of the suspected naxalites, so far.

Sources said it was a foreknown apprehension of railway lines going to be targeted by the Maoists in their bandh  for the simple reason that railways are the softest of the soft targets and its blowing up gives the Maoists their desired publicity as well.