An assistant driver was injured in a bomb blast triggered on the tracks on Wednesday, even as the two-day bandh by the CPI (Maoist) affected train movement at various points.
The CPI (Maoist) targeted a goods train carrying petroleum product in the wee hours of Wednesday on the Gidhni-Jhargram section under the Kharagpur division of South East Railway. The bomb on the track shattered the windshield of the loco injuring assistant driver M.K.D. Poddar.
Movement of trains was suspended as the blast caused a two-foot deep crater and damaged two concrete sleepers.
The Maoists caused a second blast, similar in intensity, on the same section about a km away. It damaged two sleepers and resulted in a two-foot crater. After security clearance, restoration work was undertaken.
Sabotage thwarted
Another attempt at sabotage on the New Delhi-Howrah section late on Tuesday night was thwarted by an alert gateman after he sighted about 10 to 15 people placing banners and flags and posters saying that a bomb had been planted on the track.
Patrol vans rushed in and detected two bombs within a space of a kilometre on the Ismailpur-Guraru stations in Gaya district under the Mughalsarai division of East Central Railway.
Bomb detection and disposal squads arrived from Gaya and defused both the explosives. Train services resumed after a delay of over seven hours. The affected trains included Duronto and Rajdhani series.
