Passenger train derails as Naxalites strike

In a major Naxalite strike in Thursday night, several bogies of the Tata-Bilaspur down passenger train were derailed on the railway tracks near Manoharpur railway station in West Singhbhum district in Jharkhand. Naxalites used powerful explosives to blow up the train, police said.

Two passengers were killed in the incident. While one body was found from the wreckage, another passenger died in the hospital. According to preliminary report, five bogies of the train were derailed after the explosion occurred. Three bogies were badly damaged. A senior police officer (Rail) said the Naxalites were behind the explosion, which caused the derailment.

It may be mentioned that the Communist Party of India (Maoist) has concentrated their activities in 220 districts in India and in Jharkhand they built their base in 18 out of the state’s 24 districts. Police sources said during January 2003 to October 2009, Naxalites had killed 339 policemen in Jharkhand.

The Naxalite rebels had kidnapped Francis Induwar(50), Jharkhand’s special branch Intelligence inspector on September 30 this year from Hembrom Bazaar in Khunti district. The beheaded body of the police inspector was found on October 6 from a roadside ditch on the Ranchi-Jamshedpur highway.