Suspected CPI (Maoist) rebels blew up a railway track between Chiyanki–Karmabad railway station on Gaya–Mughalsarai rail route and torched vehicles in Giridih and Bokaro districts early on Monday during the 24-hour called in Jharkhand to protest against government policies.
According to police, the Maoists blasted the down tracks near pole no 333/12 and 333/14 between Chiyanki and Karmabad railway stations leading to disruption of the rail movement for at least nine hours. They also torched one vehicle and one poklen machine in Giridih and two vehicles at Chutte village in Gomia block of Bokaro district.
Repair on the railway tracks is going on, officials said, adding that movement of 12312DN, 18624UP 13009UP Rajdhani express, including more than a dozen other trains have been affected. SDPO of Saria, Deepak Kumar said that the Maoists blew up the track at 12:15 am under the Dhanbad railway division. Many other trains, including Delhi Rajdhani, Delhi Sealdah Rajdhani were also stranded at different railway stations due to the incident. The traffic on the route was disrupted for nearly 10 hours till a railway team reached the site and reinstalled the broken railway lines, he added.
Just after the incident, Giridih SP, Akhilesh V Varier, SDPO, Saria Deepak Kumar along with rail officials reached the site to ensure safety during repair work.
In another incident, a group of rebels stormed at the work site at Gagaguro village and after threatening the workers to leave the place, they torched a poklen machine engaged in road construction. They also torched a bolero jeep parked at Dhawatand forest area at 3 am on Giridih-Dumri Road. No one was injured in the incident, police said. A police team was rushed to the spot and a search operation was launched to nab the ultras.
In another incident that took place at Gomia block in Bokaro district, a group of suspected Maoists torched two Tata pickup vans engaged in carrying passengers in Chute village under Gomia police station late on Sunday evening.
Meanwhile, the bandh crippled road and public transport in the rural areas of the State the most as many transporters preferred to keep their vehicles off the roads fearing rebel attacks. Fewer trucks were seen on roads as the frequency of long route buses was also very low.
People avoided using trains despite heavy deployment of security forces in almost every train that passed through the Maoist belt, said police officials.
Shops, business establishments, banks and other institutions in naxal infested districts of the State remained shut. Mining activities in coal belts were also affected and transportation of minerals was stuck till Monday evening.