Title - Maoists kidnap 19 railway employees, release them later

Jamui: A group of Maoists today abducted 19 railway employees, including a station master, from a railway station between Madhupur and JhaJha in Bihar's Jamui district, but later released all of them.A group of around 20 armed men took them hostage when they were repairing railway tracks near Ghorparan station located between Jasidih and Simultala stations on Jhajha-Jasidih section, Simultala station master RNP Yadav said.The abducted railway employees were then taken to a nearby forest where 16 of them were released, including section engineer Soren Manjhi and Permanent Way Inspector Bhuwaneshwar Manda, he saidLater, in a press release, the Eastern Railway confirmed that three others, Ghorparan station master Vijay Kumar and porters Munna Kumar and Dukhan Mahto, were also released by the abductors. Railway Minister Mukul Roy told PTI in Kolkata, "We have spoken to the Bihar Home Secretary and the Inspector General of RPF has spoken to the Bihar DGP."The Chairman of the Railway Board was also in touch with the Bihar government and the Union Home Ministry, he said.Jamui District Magistrate Mayank Barbare, Superintendent of Police Upendra Kumar Sharma and Sub-Divisional Officer Amlendu Kumar camped at the spot to supervise rescue operations launched by the CRPF's COBRA battalion and the district police.Train services, disrupted on the Howrah-Delhi main line after the incident at 10.30 am, resumed at around 2 pm, the railway minister said.