Maoists call for 48 hour shutdown in 5 states

The government asked five states to tighten security and take maximum precaution during the 48-hour shutdown called by the Maoists beginning Tuesday.

The shutdown call has been given in Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Orissa and Chhattisgarh in protest against the Union Government''s decision to disinvest in some  PSUs.

The railways have been advised to run trains in Maoist-affected areas at minimum speed to avoid possible sabotage by the Maoists.

Additional security has also been provided to central government installations in Maoist-affected states.

The Centre has designed disinvestments of PSUs to provide more employment to people of the region and for economic development of the area.

The Maoists fear that the Centre's decision would give a blow to their hold in remote areas. This prompted the Maoists to mobilise people against the Centre's decision.

Earlier, Maoist leader Koteshwar Rao informed some mediapersons that his organisation would observe a shutdown on May 18 and 19 in the five states to protest against the Centre''s decision to sell 10 percent stake in 10 different profit-making PSUs.

The Maoists also said that they were against the dilution of government stake in state-owned banks in order to favour the entry of international banks like Morgan Stanley, Citi Bank and Deutsche Bank.