Maoists blow up rail track in Jharkhand

Ranchi, April 7: Maoist guerrillas blew up a railway track in Jharkhand to enforce a two-day shutdown called by them to protest the killing of their members by another splinter group last month, police said Sunday.

Maoists blasted the rail track between Chhipadohar and Barwadih railway stations in Latehar district Saturday night, a police official said.

Timely information about the incident averted a major tragedy as the Rajdhani Express was to pass over the damaged track.

Maoists called the shutdown in Bihar and Jharkhand beginning Saturday to protest against the killing of 10 of their members by a rival Maoist splinter group Tritiya Prastuti Committee (TPC) in Jharkhand's Chatra district on the intervening night of March 27-28.

In neighbouring Bihar, the guerrillas blew up a railway track near Hajipur on the Hajipur-Muzaffarpur rail route Saturday, disrupting rail traffic for hours.

Maoists are active in 18 of the 24 districts of Jharkhand.

IANS