New Delhi, June 26 (IANS) A two-day “economic blockade” called by Maoist guerrillas in six Indian states to protest special economic zones (SEZs) and enforced violently left two people dead and affected life in some areas.
The protest ignited varying responses in West Bengal, Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, six states where the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) wields maximum influence.
Both killings were reported from Chhattisgarh, where about 5,000 hardcore Maoists are known to be active, while the rebels also made their presence felt in parts of Orissa and Jharkhand in particular.
In Chhattisgarh, tension prevailed in the southern parts as Maoists allegedly killed two members of a civil militia movement soon after the blockade began at midnight Monday.
“The victims were axed to death in Bijapur district,” a police official told IANS.
Normal life was thrown out of gear in the interior areas of the Bastar region – Narayanpur, Bijapur, Bastar, Kanker and Dantewada districts. This is where the guerrillas are known to run their own de facto state.
According to police, the guerrillas halted the transportation of iron ore from Dantewada district’s Bailadila hills to Visakhapatnam by damaging railway tracks at several points.
Transporters kept their vehicles off the roads fearing attacks.
The CPI-Maoist is bitterly opposed to the construction of SEZs, saying these are coming up on land taken from farmers and given away to industry at throwaway prices.
In Jharkhand, the guerrillas blew up a rail track between Barkakana and Barwadih stations while an engine of a goods train was set on fire in Latehar district.
A posse of armed men stopped the Jodhpur-Howrah train near Parasnath railway station in Giridih district at around 1 a.m. Tuesday by parking a truck on the railway track.
In coal-rich Bokaro district, a coal-laden goods train was stopped and its contents dumped on the tracks.
In Pakur district, the guerrillas raided a coalmine and burnt eight coal-ferrying dumper trucks. Some rebels abducted four officials posted there. While three officials escaped, one is missing.
The railway authorities cancelled around a dozen trains, including the Ranchi-New Delhi Rajdhani Express and Jharkhand Express.
In Orissa, the guerrillas set off a blast near a Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd telecom tower in Malkangiri district, some 640 km from Bhubaneswar. But it did not cause any damage.
They also blocked roads leading to Kalimela, Motu and other villages in the same district by placing wooden logs and huge boulders on the roads.
In Andhra Pradesh, where the Maoists have suffered several setbacks in recent times, the areas bordering Chhattisgarh and Orissa were put on alert.
Security forces were on high alert in the state after the Maoists vowed to avenge the killing of their leader S. Rajamouli at Dharmavaram town of Anantapur district June 22.
Rajamouli, the mastermind of the assassination attempt on then Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu in October 2003, headed the CPI-Maoist in Karnataka.
In Bihar, two bombs exploded on a railway track in Muzaffarpur district. A dozen trains were cancelled. Some trains were diverted as a precaution.
Road traffic was disrupted in the rural parts of Gaya, Jehanabad, Arwal, Nawada, Aurangabad and Patna.
But the blockade did not affect West Bengal, where the Maoist movement began in 1967, except in the insurgency-hit southern districts of Purulia, West Midnapore and Bankura.
Shopkeepers downed shutters in the three districts and vehicles kept off the roads.
“The blockade has hardly had any impact in Bengal. Some parts of Purulia, Bankura and West Midnapore have been affected since they are traditional bases of the Maoists,” Inspector General of Police Raj Kanojia told IANS.