Maoists blow up railway tracks in Jharkhand

Ranchi/Patna/Bhubaneswar: The Maoists today blew up railway tracks in Jharkhand and set afire a mobile tower in Bihar’s Aurangabad district on the first day of their two-day country-wide shutdown to protest against their leader Kishenji’s killing. Coming just hours after the attack on the convoy of Independent MP Inder Singh Namdhari, the death toll in which rose to 11, the Naxalites triggered an IED to blow up tracks between Gomia and Dumri railway stations in Bokaro district early today, SP Kuldip Diwedi said.[caption id=“attachment_147715” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“A body, believed to be that of Koteshwar Rao, also known as Kishenji, the top military commander of Maoist rebels, lies in a Burisole jungle at the West Midnapore district of West Bengal on 25 November 2011. Reuters”]  [/caption] Another group blew up tracks between Hehegara and Chhipadohar railway stations in Latehar district, police said. With one more policeman succumbing to his injuries in on Saturday’s attack on Namdhari’s convoy in Latehar district late last night, the toll increased to 11 which included an eight-year-old boy. The Maoists also looted firearms and ammunition from the dead and injured policemen, the police said here today. In neighbouring Bihar, where Maoist presence is strong, a group of them stormed into Suhi village in the Kutumba police station area today and set on fire a mobile tower of private operator Airtel, the police said. Railway service in Aurangabad district was badly hit and several passenger trains running through the district were cancelled after the Maoists blew tracks in neighbouring Jharkhand. Hundreds of passengers were stranded at Sone Nagar, Bagaha-Bishunpur, Korha, Bakri Salaiyya and Navinagar Road in the district since last night due to cancellation of several trains on this route, the sources said. The bandh, however, evoked at best a lukewarm response on the first day in Odisha where in some areas vehicular movement was disrupted and shops closed. Road traffic was affected in several areas of Naxal-infested districts like Malkangiri, Rayagada, Gajapati, Sundargarh and Kandhamal. Shops and business establishments remained closed in Kalimela, Motu, Padia and Chitrakonda areas of Malkangiri district, the police said. Security was tightened in all Maoist-hit districts while deployment of force was strengthened near jails, armouries and government buildings, a senior police official said. Patrolling was intensified in vulnerable areas and borders with neighbouring states like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal were sealed amid thorough checking of vehicles, he said. PTI