Maoist shutdown brings life to a standstill in Jharkhand's Ranchi District

A Maoist shutdown call brought life to a standstill in Jharkhand's Ranchi District on Saturday.

Reportedly, the insurgents were enraged when police forces killed a Maoist in the region a few days ago during an encounter.

A tourist, Ashish Roy Gupta, expressed his fear saying he was uncertain about his safety while travelling.

"We are not feeling secure as anything can happen during the time of journey. Though the doubt remains in mind but we have to go, as it is urgent. We do face problems due to shutdown and we are also not sure that we will be able to reach safely or not," said Gupta.

In Ranchi, daily commuters were left stranded as trains and buses did not ply. Major markets in the city remained closed.

Another traveller Naseem said common people are the sufferers due to shutdowns as daily business is adversely affected.

"We cannot go walking, people who call for the shutdown don't think and they are not at all worried about the poor people. No one thinks about the people neither government nor the people who declare shutdowns," said Naseem.

The rebels, also known as Naxals or Naxalites, have fought for decades in a wide swathe of central and eastern India, including many resource-rich regions where tensions run high between poor farmers and industrial developers.

The Maoist insurgents are estimated to number 7500 hardcore fighters in nearly a third of India's 630 districts. While they have made few inroads into cities, they have spread into rural pockets in 20 of 28 states.

Maoists say they are fighting for the rights of poor farmers and landless labourers. Thousands have been killed in the insurgency since the late 1960s.