By IANS
Kolkata/Patna : Suspected Maoist guerrillas triggered a landmine blast on a rail track in West Bengal’s Birbhum district Monday on the first day of their 48-hour shutdown to protest the violence in Nandigram while in Bihar the strike evoked mixed response. Bihar’s urban areas were largely unaffected by the strike call.
The landmine blast between the Bhimgarh and Pachra railway stations in Birbhum blew away two feet of rail track, leaving a four feet deep crater. No one was injured in the incident that took place at 5.10 a.m.
“The blast occurred just minutes before the Mayurakshi Fast Passenger train was to pass through the area,” Eastern Railway spokesperson Samir Goswami said.
He said the guard of a goods train reported the explosion. “The guard immediately contacted cabin man Mohammed Imanullah. We immediately diverted four trains and alerted the nearby railway stations,” he said.
“We recovered Maoist posters from the track as well as some leaflets protesting the violence in Nandigram and asking people to participate in the strike in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa,” Goswami said.
This is the third incident of Maoist attack in the state in the past few days. On Friday, the rebels blew up the Bhulabheda panchayat office in West Midnapore. Posters recovered from the spot stated the attack was by the Communist Party of India-Maoist to take revenge for their “forcible retreat” from Nandigram.
On Saturday midnight, rebels had attacked the Baita gram panchayat (village executive) office in Lalgarh in the same district and set furniture and documents ablaze.
In Bihar, the shutdown evoked mixed response Monday with urban areas unaffected but life in villages hit.
Educational institutions, businesses, and market places remained open in Patna and other urban centres. However, life in rural pockets, particularly in Maoist strongholds, was affected.
“Vehicular movement was hit in rural areas,” a police official said.
The Bihar government announced an alert in the state and the police in Maoist strongholds were directed to be more vigilant.
Bihar Police chief A.R. Sinha said additional security forces had been deployed at important government installations and public places, including railway stations and bus depots.
There was no cancellation or diversion of trains passing through the state, the railways said.
A statement issued Wednesday by the CPI-Maoist said: “We unequivocally support the just cause of the people of Nandigram and assure them that we shall stand firmly by them in their just and democratic struggle against pro-imperialist policies of the CPI-M and the fascist repression let loose by the state and central government.”
Maoist leaders said the red flag-bearing government of West Bengal has openly come out in support of capitalists and was uprooting farmers and their families to make room for industrialists.
CPI-Maoist’s Bihar-Jharkhand special area committee secretary Rakesh said: “This is not a question of Nandigram or West Bengal alone but also of Orissa, Jharkhand and other places in the country where special economic zones (SEZs) are being set up at the behest of the centre and touts of multinational companies are letting loose a reign of terror on innocent people.”
The Maoists have asked people living around areas demarcated for SEZs across the country to join their agitation.