NEW DELHI, Nov 20: Train services in several divisions in Jharkhand after some members of the banned organization CPI(Maoists) blew up some railway tracks to enforce a nation-wide bandh call given by it in protest against the recent arrest of its leader Prashant Bose.
Official sources said the hands of the CPI(Maoists) were suspected to be behind blowing up of some railway tracks forcing the authorities to cancel or divert some of the railway services on the Barkana-Garhwa route and divert or cancel some of the long-distance trains in the region.
The police said “Members of banned Maoists organization suspectedly blew up a portion of railway tracks in Jharkhand’s Latehar district in the early hours of Saturday disrupting train services on the Barkakana-Garhwa route,” police said.
A blast took place on the railway tracks between Richughuta and Demu stations around 12.30 am, an officer said. “Members of a CPI-Maoist squad blew up railway tracks in Latehar, disrupting movement of trains on Barkakana-Garhwa rail route,” Deputy Inspector General of Police, Palamu Range, Raj Kumar Lakra said.
The banned outfit has called for a nationwide bandh on Saturday to protest against the arrest by the Jharkhand police of its top leader Prashant Bose alias Kishan Da, who was carrying a bounty of Rs one crore on his head. Bose was believed to be the mastermind behind more than 100 incidents of attack and arson in Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.
Lakra said the railway authorities are repairing the tracks.
All the police stations in Palamu, Garhwa and Latehar districts under the Dhanbad Division of Central Eastern Railway have been alerted after the blast, the DIG said.
ECR Railway spokesperson PK Mishra said the trolley of a diesel engine has been damaged in the blast. Special teams of Barkakana and Barwadih have reached the spot to repair the railway lines and work is on, he said. Several trains have been diverted, while Dehri-On-sone-Barwadih and Barwadih-Nesubogomo special trains were cancelled. Movement of passenger buses from Medininagar to Ranchi have also been stopped, a state government official said.
(Manas Dasgupta)
