Train services disrupted after Maoists create landmine hoax in Jhargram

Train services in the Kharagpur-Tatanagar route of South-Eastern railway were disrupted today after a landmine hoax created panic in West Midnapore district.

A pilot train and a team of joint security forces rushed to a spot near Jhargram railway station after a driver of the Howrah-bound Sambalpur Express noticed some banners and a tiffin-box with wires spread out lying on the railway tracks in the wee hours today, police said.

Later in the day, an inspection by the bomb-disposal squad revealed the absence of any explosives. Police said that this was a ploy by the Maoists to create panic, as a result of which several local trains in the route were cancelled while long-distance trains got delayed.

The Maoists had called for a 24-hour bandh today in five states - West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and Chhatisgarh.