Maoists bomb railway tracks in South Bihar

Patna, Dec 12 (UNI) Proscribed CPI (Maoist) guerillas blew up a portion of the railway tracks near east cabin of Uren station under Kiul-Jamalpur section of Eastern Railway this morning disrupting services on the Howrah-Patna mainline for several hours.

According to an Eastern Railway release, the explosion took place at around 0307 hrs, uprooting about two feet of railway track and some concrete sleepers. There was no report of any casualties.

A major incident was also averted as several trains passing through the area were stopped at Kiul, Jamui, Jhajha and Jassideeh railway stations following the incident.

A report from Jamui said the trains detained included the Danapur-Howrah express, Delhi-Kolkata Lal Qila express, Howrah-Rajgir Fast passenger, Muzaffarpur bound Jansewa express and Jamalpur-Kiul passenger train.

The report said the explosion was possibly aimed at bringing the government's attention towards their demands and creating a fear psychosis among the locals, sources said.

Normal train services in the section resumed at about 0830 hrs after railway engineers and staff repaired the damaged track, railway sources informed.

UNI