150 Maoists attack train in Bihar,shoot 3 men dead,loot arms from RPF jawans

Five persons,identified as K P Singh (train guard),Manoj Kumar Singh (railway employee at Jamalpur),Dharmendra Sah (Lakhisarai),P K Tripathi (Patna) and Satish Kumar (Muzaffarpur) suffered injuries and were given treatment at Keul station,Prabhakar said adding that Manoj Kumar Singh’s condition was stated to be serious.

Around 150 Maoists forcibly stopped the train near Kunder Halt between Jamui and Mananpur railway stations,about 170 km from Patna,at 1320 hours and fired indiscriminately for about half-an-hour on the train and its passengers,Additional Director General of Police (ADG),Law and Order,S K Bharadwaj said.

The Maoists also looted weapons from two RPF personnel and later let the train go towards its onward journey,he said.

Two companies of CRPF have rushed to the spot to carry out a combing-cum-search operation against the Maoists who retreated into the forest after carrying out the daring daylight attack on the train,Jamui district magistrate Shashikant Tiwari said.

The operations against the Maoists was being led by the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Md. Abdullah,he said,adding blood stains have been found on various spots which pointed to injuries or casaulties among the retreating ultras.

The Maoists also detonated explosives to deter the security forces from chasing them,Tiwari said.

The DM said that prime facie it appeared that the Maoists attacked the train to loot passengers as also weapons from the RPF escort party.

Bihar’s Director General of Police (DGP) Abhayanand said details about the sequence of events had been sought from the District Magistrate of Lakhisarai.

Minister of State for Railway Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that the Maoists were now looking for soft targets to create a fear psychosis.

“They are now cornered. That is why they are now looking for soft targets,” he said.

Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said in Delhi that CRPF personnel have been rushed to the trouble spot.

The injured train guard and the RPF jawan were in a serious condition,Railway Minister C P Joshi said.

The passengers were safe and the train resumed its onward journey after about 75 minutes,Railway Board Chairman Vinay Mittal said.

The Naxals retreated into the forest after carrying out the daring daylight attack on the train,he said.

The Maoists also detonated explosives to deter the security forces from chasing them,Tiwari said.