Amit Thakkar, the national president of the BJP’s youth wing, who is originally from Ahmedabad, was among the passengers assaulted and robbed by Maoists on the Barbil-Howrah Janshatabdi express, on Saturday evening.

The passengers of three air-conditioned coaches of the train were attacked in a Maoist-infested zone on the border of West Bengal and Jharkhand.

South Eastern Railway sources said a five-member gang, most of them carrying firearms, boarded the train as passengers. The sources said the gang fled the train after pulling the emergency chain at the Maoist-controlled Kanimouli jungle between Chakulia station in Jharkhand and Gidhni station in West Bengal.
 (With agencies)