Two shot dead in Bengal, Orissa; rail tracks damaged in Bihar

Railway workers restore a stretch of the railway track blown up by Maoists near Karmavad station in Giridih district of Jharkhand on Monday. Photo: Manob chowdhury

One person each was shot dead in West Bengal and Orissa by Maoists and a blast triggered by them partially damaged railway tracks in Bihar on the second day of the two-day bandh called by the ultras in six states.

The body of an unidentified man was found this morning at Jhargram town in West Midnapore district in West Bengal, police said.

The man had been assaulted before being shot dead and posters left beside his body by Maoists claimed that he was a police informer, police said.

In Orissa, a person identified as Rajesh Lugun of Banaladhipa village in Sundargarh district was taken away by Maoists from his house and later killed, they said.

The ultras also blasted two abandoned forest beat houses at Chandiposh in Bonai sub—division and partially damaged a house near Chandiposh railway station.

Operations in Kalta and Koida mines came to a halt while loading of iron ore in Barsuna and the nearby railway siding was affected as workers did not report for duty, sources said.

Local buses and inter—state bus services from Rourkela to Jharkhand, Bihar and Chhatisgarh remained suspended since yesterday, they said.

In Bihar, Maoists triggered a blast on railway tracks, damaging it partially near Chausima village on the Muzaffarpur—Samastipur section of the East Central Railway in Muzaffarpur district early morning, police said.

The tracks were repaired and traffic on the section restored.

A carbine and five round of ammunition were found beside the tracks, police said.

Yesterday, Maoists had killed nine persons — two policemen in Chhattisgarh, five CPI(M) supporters in West Bengal and a watchman in Jharkhand.

The bandh was called in West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, besides Gadchiroli, Bhandara and Chadrapur districts of Maharashtra and Balaghat district of Madhya Pradesh by top Maoist leader Kishenji.

The shutdown was called to press for a probe into the death of top Naxal leader Cherakuri Rajkumar alias Azad who was killed in a police encounter on July 2 in Adilabad district of Andhra Pradesh.