CPI (Maoist) bandh against Nandigram firing

Ranchi, Mar 20: Train services were disrupted in Jharkhand as the CPI(Maoist)-sponsored 24-hour bandh to protest the March 14 police firing in Nandigram began at midnight last night.

The West Bengal, Jharkhand and Orissa committee of the banned outfit called the bandh in five states that also includes Chhattisgarh and Bihar.

The state government sounded high alert following the bandh call, official sources said adding special surveillance would be on railway property and trains, the usual target of the naxalites.

The bandh also affected vehicular trraffic in the state as 16 of the total 22 districts are naxal-affected.

The Ranchi-New Delhi Rajdhani, Hatia-Tata Jammu Tavi Express (8101) and Ranchi-Varanasi intercity (8611) had a route change in view of the bandh. Many trains were also cancelled, sources said.

UNI