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Jamshedpur, Feb. 7 (Source - The Telegraph): On Day One of the 72-hour bandh called by Maoists in four states, rebels blew up railway tracks in Bihar, setting off a chain of train delays in Jharkhand.
The tracks were destroyed near Rajla railway station on the Jhajha-Jasidih section of East Central Railway in Bihar’s Jamui district, on the border with Jharkhand.
“Over 40 Maoists were involved in the operation which threw train schedules off track for hours,” said a senior police official in Patna. A stretch of 2.5 feet on the Up line and five feet on the Down line were damaged by the blast, railway sources said.
ECR’s chief public relation officer, Dilip Kumar, said both tracks were repaired by 11.30am. The Punjab Mail was the first train to travel on the Up track after repairs.
The three-day bandh called by CPI(Maoist) in Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa and Bengal, in protest against Operation Green Hunt, began at midnight.
Railway authorities said trains including Tata-Patna Superfast Express (Dn) and Chapra-Tata Express were running over 10 hours late due to disruption in services after the attack. The Tata-Patna-Durg South Bihar Express had to be held at Gomoh station for several hours.
Chakradharpur division decided to divert a few long distance trains, keeping in view the safety and security of passengers. Station manager of Tatanagar, A.K. Agarwal, said the Tata-Jammu Tawi Express would run via Muri, Bokaro and Gomoh instead of its normal route, for the next three days.
Security has been intensified on all trains passing through Tatanagar and other important railway stations under Chakradharpur division. The Tata-Badampahar Passenger has been cancelled till February 9.
Meanwhile, on the CIC section of ECR’s Dhanbad division, at least seven passenger trains were cancelled while seven other express trains were diverted. The cancelled passenger trains included the up and down Palamu Express, up and down Palamu Link Express, Gomoh-Barkakana passenger, Gomoh-Barwadih passenger and Barwadih-Dehri-on-Sone passenger.
Shakti Punj Express, Ranchi-Varanasi Intercity, Tata-Jammu Tawi Express, Rajdhani Express and Swarnjayanti Express were thetrains diverted. The diverted trains will run on the Gomoh-Gaya Mughalsarai route. To keep road connections safe, an anti-landmine vehicle was pressed into service at Bhilai Pahari on NH-33. Movement of heavy vehicles would be restricted on the highway at night.
Today, government-run long-distance buses stayed off the roads. Though private buses plied, they were few in number.
The bandh on the first day evoked a good response in Naxalite strongholds like Ghatshila, Chakulia, Potka, Chandil and Chowka. Traffic was thin in Ghatshila, Chakulia and Potka. The sponge iron plants remained closed in Chandil and Chowka in Seraikela-Kharsawan district.
However, the impact of bandh was partial in Patamda, which of late has been in the news for the uprising by villagers against rebels.
Shops and weekly haats remained open.
