A group of unidentified armed men claiming themselves to be Maoists picked up a station master and three other employees from a railway station in Purulia district.
A group of unidentified armed men claiming themselves to be Maoists picked up a station master and three other employees from a railway station in Purulia district, but released them unharmed with a warning that no one should attend the Trinamool Congress rally at Lalgarh.
The armed men stormed into the Urma railway station last night and forced the station master, Aditya Kerketta, to ring up some reporters in Purulia district to tell them that none from the Purulia district should attend Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee's August 9 rally at Lalgarh.
They then disconnected the phone and took him and three other railway employees to some distance from the station, before releasing them with a warning that they or any other railway employees from the district should not attend the TC rally, the Urma station master told reporters this morning.
The group also left behind some posters which claimed that they were Maoists and warned people against attending the rally.
The group also told the station master that no train should run at night through the station, Kerketta said.
Following the Gyaneshwari Express mishap on May 28, night trains have been suspended between 10:00 pm and 5:00 am on two railway sections, but not in the Purulia-Chandil section of Adra division of the South Eastern Railways, Purulia station master Shyamsundar Majumdar said.
The only train passing through the station at night was the Tata-Chapra Express which was suspended last night after the raid by the armed group, he said.
Goods trains on the section have already stopped running at night, Majumdar said.
An inquiry was made by the Adra division officials today at the Urma station after which the Railway Protection Force checked the tracks before train services resumed, Majumdar said.
Top Maoist leader Kishenji and Maoist-backed People's Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA) had earlier expressed support for the TC rally.
When asked whether the armed men were Maoists, SP Rajesh Yadav evaded a direct reply.
"The railways are looking into it as it falls within their jurisdiction. We are also looking into it," he said.
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