In a brazen attack, a group of Maoists opened fire on a passenger train killing three police personnel, and injuring two, including a civilian, in Bihar’s Munger district on Saturday, the police said.
Nearly two dozen Maoists, in civil attire, were travelling on the 13235 Sahibganj-Danapur Inter-city train. When the train crossed a tunnel between Jamalpur and Ratanpur railways stations after 6 p.m., they opened fire on the escort party and made away with the weapons, Amitabh Kumar Das, superintendent of police, Railway police, Jamalpur, told The Hindu .
Ashok Kumar, a head constable of the Bihar Military Police; and Uday Kumar and Bhola Kumar, constables of the Government Railway Police were killed in the attack. Vinay Kumar, another police personnel who was part of the escort party, was injured in the attack.
“There were five police personnel travelling on the train in the bogey located next to the guard’s. One of them managed to escape,” KS Anupam, deputy inspector general, (Railways), told
According to Railways, one woman passenger was injured in the attack, that took place around 6.50 p.m. She was rushed to the Jamalpur Railway hospital.
This is the second instance of Maoists targeting a passenger train. In June, Naxal ultras targeted the Dhanbad-Patna intercity express near Jamui district, killing three persons and injuring six passengers.