Maoists attacked the Doikalu railway station in Rayagada district of Odisha around midnight on Thursday, protesting against the proposed visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the State. In one of the explosions caused by the Naxalites, the engine of a goods train was damaged.
Several trains were detained following the violence. Maoists left behind handwritten posters,which criticised the policies of Modi and Naveen Patnaik governments and Mr. Modi's proposed visit to the State on April 15 and 16 to attend the BJP’s national executive meeting.
According to station master S.K. Parida, about 15 to 20 Maoists entered the station at 12.15 a.m., pushed out railway officials and exploded bombs. They moved out around 2 a.m.
On receiving information, Rayagada Superintendent of Police (SP) K. Siva Subramani rushed to the spot.
Railway authorities said train movement had not been restored in the route yet. Services on the track passing via Doikalu will resume after the security and safety aspects are completely ascertained.
12843 Puri-Ahmedabad express is detained at the Rayagada station, 22838 Ernakulam-Hatia Express stoped at the Bobbili station, 58530 Visakhapatnam-Durg passenger at Jimidipeta, 58302 Koraput-Sambalpur passenger stopped enroute, 58528 Visakhapatnam-Raipur Express is detained at Gajapatinagaram, 18437 Bhubaneswar-Junagarh Express stopped at the Rayagada Statoin and 17482 Tirupati-Bilaspur Express has been stopped en-route.
