The Railway protection force (RPF) jawans have been armed with only lathis in the sensitive Bastar region of Chhattisgarh, officials said.
Maoists who often target railways on the other hand carry sophisticate weapons including guns, grenades, mortars and rocket launchers. As a result the morale of the RPF personals remained weak even though they have been entrusted to ensure safety, security and boosts the confidence of the traveling train passengers.
The Maoist had attacked the RPF personals near Rayagada of Odisha in 2003 and looted their weapons. After that authorities withdrawn the weapons from the RPF working in this railway section. Since then the RPF personals working between Kirandul to Koraput have been carrying only batons with them. The railways had short terminated the Visakhapatnam-Kirandul passenger train until Dec 8 as the Maoists observed PlGA week in the region. Prior to that the rebels celebrated Martyr Week and the same movement of the same train was affected at that time. The movement of train was also affected during the election.
Jagdalpur RPF post in-charge DK Das said only 17 jawans including officers have been entrusted with the task of providing security to the railway infrastructure. The station also operates three express trains besides the passenger train, he said.