Maoists abduct 3 gatemen affecting train movement
Heavily-armed Maoist rebels abducted three gatemen of railway level crossings in Bihar, disrupting train movement for nearly seven hours on the PatnaHowrah section, officials said on Thursday.
Movement of nearly 25 trains were disrupted till the route was re-opened at 7am on Thursday, a railway official told HT.
The three railway employees, abducted past midnight, were released at 2am after security forces launched an operation in Lakhisarai, one among 15 Bihar districts affected by Left-wing Maoist insurgency.
Sources said rebels abducted the railway employees for defying a shutdown during the martrys’ week observed by the banned CPI (Maoist) and its armed wing, the People’s Liberation Guerilla Army (PLGA), from July 28, the death anniversary of Charu Mazumdar who is considered the father of Leftwing insurgency in India.
Around 100 rebels were involved in the abductions, Bhagalpur zone inspector general SM Khopde said. Rebels also threatened the drivers and guard of a passenger train.
Following the abductions, several trains, including the Howrah-Amritsar Punjab Mail, were halted at different locations till the route was cleared.
“All the railway employees have been released and are safe,” Rajesh Kumar, the Eastern Railways spokesperson told HT.
Police sources said security forces, including the anti-Maoist force – the CoBRA of the CRPF – launched operations in the Gopalpur forest which led to a brief exchange of gunfire. The rebels, however, managed to escape. Additional director general of police (headquarters) Sanjiv Kumar Singhal said all possible routes used by Maoists to move around have been sealed to corner the rebels.