Maoists blast railway stations, track

While enforcing a shutdown to protest U.S. President Barack Obama's India visit, the Maoists triggered blasts at a railway station and in two government buildings in Jharkhand's Palamu district, police said on Monday.

No causalties were reported. The rebels kidnapped a railway station officer late on Sunday from Palamu district, some 170 km from here, and destroyed a metre-long section of the track. Police said the station officer is yet to be traced. The ultras shouted slogans against Mr. Obama's visit and distributed posters.

They also blasted a portion of tracks at the Satbahani railway station in the district, police confirmed. Several trains were stopped at various points following the damage to the track and five trains were cancelled, while the routes of four others were changed.

Dynamite blasts were triggered at panchayat buildings in Rajhara village of the Vishrampur block and Basna village of the Nava block in Palamu. Police are still investigating the incident.

The Communist Party of India (Maoist) called a nationwide 24-hour shutdown at midnight on Sunday to protest Mr. Obama's visit.

Two killed in Orissa

Sib Kumar Das reports from Berhampur:

Maoists killed two persons, blasted a school building and blocked a highway by felling trees in south Orissa during their 24-hour bandh.

The rebels shot dead two persons near Timanpur village in the Raighar block, bordering Chhattisgarh in Nabarangpur district. The bullet-riddled bodies were found on the Timanpur-Binaypur road. Claiming responsibility for the killings, Maoists, based in the Menpur division of Chhattisgarh, alleged that these persons indulged in extortion in their name. The police launched a combing operation in the area, Nabarangpur Superintendent of Police Prafulla Barik said.

In the early hours, 40 Maoists blasted a residential school building with a landmine at Gompakunda in Malkangiri district. But they did not harm the 60 students staying in the hostel. The militants alleged that the two-storey building was to be used as a camp for security personnel during anti-Maoist operations.

Maoists cut down trees to block traffic on the Govindpalli Ghat Road, severing links between Koraput and Malkangiri districts.