RailEnquiry

JAMSHEDPUR: Passengers aboard a Bilaspur-bound train had a brush with terror when suspected armed Maoists laid siege to the train and occupied the coaches on Monday night. The rebels pasted anti-establishment posters inside the coaches and tied a can bomb to the engine of the train at Posaita between Tatanagar and Manoharpur railway stations.The 10-km long journey from Posaita railway station, where the Maoists executed their plan, to Manoharpur station, where the train was stopped and the passengers shifted to 18030 Howrah-Shalimar Kurla Express for resuming the journey, was tormenting for the passengers. The area falls in the Chakradharpur railway division of the South Eastern Railways in West Singhbhum district."The minute we came to know that the Maoists have tied a bomb to the engine we were terrified. The distance appeared like a lifetime and was terrifying," Amol Sikdar of Rourkela said over the phone. He was travelling on the Bilaspur-bound passenger train.The train that left Tatanagar at 7.30pm reached Manoharpur railway station safely around 11pm and was received by the security personnel. "Quick response team of the CRPF was immediately rushed to Manoharpur station and the engine was swiftly detached from the train as soon as it reached the station and the passengers were asked to get off the train," said West Singhbhum police superintendent, A K Singh.

The SP claimed that the Maoist squad led by Habil Chawra and Sandip executed the act. He also said the can bomb weighing 1kg detached from the engine of the train had been defused.

"More than 12 Maoists entered the train when it reached Posaita station around 9.30pm. They stayed inside the coaches for over half an hour and pasted posters in all 12 coaches. Thereafter, they tied a bag perhaps carrying a bomb to the engine and fled," said B K Ganguly, the guard of the train who had informed the Manoharpur rail police. "Stop Operation Green Hunt and anti-Maoist operations in the state," said the posters. Other posters announced the Maoist bandh in Bihar Jharkhand, Odisha, Bengal and Chhattisgarh on May 16.

The train was under siege of the Maoists for nearly 30 minutes and reached Manoharpur station in about 50 minutes, said a passenger.

The Chakradhapur railway authorities rushed additional security forces along with the bomb disposal squad to Manoharpur station after receiving request for the same from the local officials in Manoharpur.

The rail traffic on the Chakradharpur-Manoharpur-Rourkela route on the Howrah-Mumbai main line remained disrupted for several hours following the incident.

"The authorities should also take into account our safety and security concerns," said a member of the All India Loco Running Staff Association.

Posaita is the station where the Maoists had derailed the Bilaspur-bound train by blasting a bomb in November 21, 2009 in which two passengers were killed and several were injured. The incident coming on a night before the Maoist 24-hour bandh commencing Tuesday midnight has put the entire security establishment on alert.

"Additional security measures like running of a pilot engine prior to the passenger trains and deployment on security personnel (CRPF and GRP) will be made on the disturbed route," said a GRP official.

The Tatanagar railway has not announced cancellation of any train in light of Maoist bandh, so far.