Maoists blow up railway tracks in Jharkhand

Maoists blew up railway tracks in Jharkhand's Giridih district, paralysing movement of trains for over five hours, a railway official said on Tuesday.

The incident took place at 10.45 pm on Monday between Chaudhary Bandh station and Chengaro halt under Dhanbad Rail Division of the East Central Railway (ECR), Hajipur zone.

Two-night patrol staff members were hardly 20 metres away from the spot when the bomb exploded on the track. They immediately alerted the Assistant Station Master (ASM) of Chaudhary Bandh, Rajeev Kumar, the DRM said.
About one metre-long track was damaged in the explosion, he said.

Eight express trains were stopped at various stations on Monday night and 13 trains diverted due to the blast, Dhanbad Rail Division Manager (DRM) Anil Kumar Mishra said.

He said both up and down tracks were opened for trains at 3.15 am and 3.30 am respectively.

Mishra said patrolling was intensified following a two-day (October 16 and 17) bandh call given by the CPI (Maoist) in Jharkhand and Bihar.

The bandh call was given to protest the death sentence awarded to two Maoists by a Dumka court last month for killing six policemen in July 2013.

Mishra said the ASM and the two line men will be felicitated by Railway Board Chairman Ashwani Lohani on Wednesday in New Delhi for their alertness.

The three have left for the national capital, he said.