The Maoists on Thursday blew up a railway station in Jharkhand, killing a policeman, and attacked other railway and public properties in the state during the second day of their two-day bandh in five states. Bihar witnessed no such attacks but the atmosphere of fear and cancellation of trains severely hit the wedding season in the interiors.
The rebels blew up the Hehegara railway station in Jharkhand’s deeply Maoist-affected Latehar district in a post-midnight blast using dynamite. The blast was carried out by about 100 Maoist cadres at about 1.30 am and a Jaguar jawan deployed there was killed in an exchange of fire with the rebels that followed the blast, said officials. The blast was so severe that three buildings close to the railway station were damaged.
About three feet of the railway tracks were uprooted at the Nichitpur halt near Dhanbad in a blast the Maoists set off about the same time, said Dhanbad Rail Division senior PRO Amarendra Das. Several trains, including the Rajdhani Express, were stranded at various places following the damage to the tracks till the route was restored at 9 am, he said. The Maoists, who called the two-day bandh in protest against the alleged fake encounter death of their senior leader Azad in Andhra Pradesh, also blew up two road bridges on the Goelkera and Seregenda main road in Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district by a landmine blast. They blew up a pump house, burnt a CISF vehicle and held a driver captive for hours.
Bauxite mining and transportation came to a standstill in Jharkhand’s Lohardaga district, the hub of mining, as about 700 trucks normally engaged in carrying the ores stayed off the roads and workers also kept indoors.
While the bandh was a total success across Jharkhand, it evoked mixed response in Bihar as its effects were felt largely in the state’s rural areas. A dozen trains stood cancelled in both the states and several others had to be re-routed, said officials.