Maoist rebels blasted railway tracks and disrupted traffic in different parts of the State disrupted train movement in various zones. The rebel outfit had given a Bharat Bandh call, which came into effect from midnight of Friday/Saturday.
The all India bandh was to protest the recent arrest of politburo member Prashant Bose alias Kishan Da. Bose was the mastermind behind more than 100 incidents of attack and arson in Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra. 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.
Sources said after the blast train movement came to a halt on both the Up and Dn lines. A team of railway 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.
In another blast, railway lines measuring four meters were blown up by the rebels between Demu and Richughutta railway stations under the Garhwa Road Barkakana section of the Dhanbad division of the East Central railway last night.
A railway note accessed by this correspondent read all traffic on the Up and Dn track were blocked following tracks being bombed at 00.50 hrs between Demu and Richughutta railway stations. A diesel light engine got derailed in this blowing up of the tracks. There is no loss of life, said sources in the railways. Railways diverted two trains and an equal number of trains cancelled for the day today.
The diverted trains are Jammu Tawi Sambalpur express train and Sasaram Ranchi express train. Their diverted routes are via Gaya. The cancelled trains for the day today are Dehri On Sone Barwadih passenger train and Barwadih Gomoh passenger train.
A railway note read traffic on both the Up and Dn lines were restored well before 9 this morning. The derailed diesel light engine was put on the track and made to run @ the speed of 10 kmph.
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.
Meanwhile, the movement of trains were restored after eight hours on Saturday on Tori-Latehar section of Dhanbad Railway division after repairs.
The CPI Maoists had blown up the tracks near Tori railway station on Saturday by planting an IED.
A light engine and a trolley were derailed blocking railway traffic on this route. Dhanbad railway divisional spokesman PK Mishra said the up line was restored at 8.45 am and later the down line was restored at 10.15Am from an accident relief tram that rushed from Barkakana and Barwadih stations.