Maoists Hijack Train, Run Riot
On the eve of second phase of Lok Sabha elections, Maoists hijacked a local train in Jharkhand, holding hostage all 700 passengers on board till they were freed at the end of a four hours standoff. Also, they triggered blasts in Bihar where set trucks on fire and shot dead a driver
According to Senior Divisional Railway Manager, Dhanbad, Neeraj Ambast, the rebels seized the Gomo-Mogulsarai BDM train near Hehegarha railway station in Latehar district at about 7:30 am and freed it at 11:39 hours without harming any of the passengers.
“All the passengers are safe. The train has left on its onward journey,” he said. Latehar is about 125 kms from Ranchi.
The Maoists were demanding compensation and jobs for relatives of comrades killed by security forces on April 16, the first day of the polls, sources said.
In another rampageous act in Bihar, a block development office in Aurangabad district was blasted by Maoists who set ablaze eight trucks in neighbouring Gaya where they shot dead a driver during a 24-hour bandh called by them in the two states to protest killing of their cadres by security forces.
Alarmed by the attack, the Union Home Ministry convened a high-level meeting in New Delhi to review the security situation in naxal-affected areas of Jharkhand, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh, where polling will be held tomorrow.
