Maoist trigger blasts to protest Obama visit

RANCHI - Maoists triggered blasts at a railway station and two government buildings in Jharkhand while enforcing a shutdown to protest US President Barack Obama’s India visit, police said Monday. The rebels also abducted a railway official.

Maoist guerrillas blasted a portion of Satbahani railway station in Palamau district, some 170 km from Ranchi, late Sunday and kidnapped the station manager, a police official said.

In a separate incident, the rebels triggered blasts using dynamites at panchayat buildings in Rajhara village of Vishrampur block and Basna village of Nava block in Palamau. No one was injured in both the attacks.

The outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) has called a 24-hour shutdown from Sunday midnight till Monday midnight to protest Obama’s four-day India visit.

Heavy security arrangements have been made in many parts of the state in the wake of the shutdown. As a precautionary measure, five trains have been cancelled on Coal Indian Cord (CIC) section and the route of four trains have been changed by railway authorities.