''Railways took all steps to protect passengers, property''

New Delhi, Jun 28 (UNI) Railway Minister Lalu Prasad today said his ministry had taken all steps for the safety of passengers and railway property following the CPI(Maoist)-sponsored 48-hour economic blockade.

''We had taken all measures to minimise inconvience to the passengers and the financial loss to the state,'' he told mediapersons, on the sidelines of a function here.

Stressing the Naxals' propensity for targetting infrastructure, he said causing losses to the exchequer had become their strategy.

As he had noted on earlier occasions, the Minister bemoaned the ''lack of coordination'' among the intelligence agencies. ''Whatever intelligence or information we get is too general and not specific enough to be of use,'' he had said, and called for improvements in this direction.

The proscribed CPI(ML) had announced a 48 hour blockade in protest of acquisition of agricultural land for setting up Special Economic Zones (SEZs). The blockade, which ended last midnight, had brought a grinding halt to the trade activities in mines and mineral sectors besides causing immense damage to railway properties.

Central Coalfields Limited could only despatch less than 18,000 tonnes of coal against its usual 67,000 tonnes, official sources said adding mining and transport industry suffered more than Rs 100 crore.

The naxals had also targeted railway properties, yesterday laying siege to the Hatiya-Rourkela railway zone and brought the movement of trains to a virtual halt for hours.

In Chatra, the CPI (Maoist) activists detonated a powerful landmine blowing up a bridge under Hantarganj police station.

On the first day, the ultras blew up a goods train and railway tracks at several places.

UNI