Maoists kill policeman, blast rail tracks (Roundup)

KOLKATA/BHUBANESWAR/PATNA - Maoist guerrillas killed a policeman and a Marxist activist and blasted rail tracks on the second and final day of a shutdown in six states to protest a security crackdown.

The Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) targeted rail tracks in Bihar, Orissa and West Bengal derailing the Rajdhani Express proceeding to New Delhi from Bhubaneswar.

The incident took place in Bihar’s Gaya district, where officials said the rail line would be opened for traffic only Wednesday morning.

But despite the spread of Maoist sabotage, only one policeman was killed Tuesday — a sign of the heat the CPI-Maoist is facing in the light of the sweeping crackdown going on in several states.

In Jharkhand, a policeman died in Sareikela-Kharsawan district after Maoists fired at a police patrol near Chouka police station at 1.30 a.m.

Suspected Maoists also abducted four traders from Bokaro district.

In neighbouring West Bengal, where the Maoists have been on a bloody offensive in recent months, they shot dead Hemanta Pradhan of the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) in West Midnapore district.

The killing took place late Monday in Kuldiha village after a dozen armed men abducted the man from his daughter’s house, police said.

But clearly, the Maoist ire was directed at the railways, the country’s lifeline. The government has transported security forces in large numbers to various states where Maoists are active.

Eight coaches of the Rajdhani Express went off the track late Monday, leading to the cancellation of three trains and diversion of 17, officials said. This happened between Paraiya and Kastha stations, about 100 km from Patna.

A pamphlet left at the site by the Maoists claimed responsibility for the incident. “Maoists blew up three to four feet of railway track,” Inspector General of Police S.K. Bhardawaj told IANS.

In Orissa, Maoists blew up rail tracks and derailed an empty freight train Tuesday with a landmine, hitting services on the Howrah-Mumbai route.

The incident occurred between Bishra and Bandhamunda in Sundergarh, about 500 km from Bhubaneswar.

According to V.K. Srivastav, a senior divisional commercial railway manager, three wagons of the Manoharpur-bound train were damaged. Several long distance trains were later stranded at different stations.

In Orissa’s Gajapati district, state-run buses went off the roads in remote areas as a precaution, while Maoists placed logs on the road in two places in Kandhamal and Malkangiri districts.

In Andhra Pradesh, where security forces dominate the Maoists, the authorities said they had stepped up vigil along the border with Orissa. In some interior areas, state-owned buses stopped plying.

In West Bengal, train services were disrupted for several hours as Maoists detonated a track in West Midnapore district.

A South Eastern Railway spokesman said several trains had to be detained or diverted due to sabotage in West Bengal and Orissa.

In Chhattisgarh, iron ore shipment by the state-run NMDC in Bailadila was hit due to disruption in rail services. The railways cancelled movement of goods trains from Sunday night fearing attacks by the rebels.

Thousands of security forces are locked in an anti-Maoist offensive in West Bengal, Jharkhand and Orissa to arrest rising violence blamed on the radicals.