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Maoists blow up railway track in West Bengal | Suspected Maoists blew up a railway track near Midnapore town in West Bengal's West Midnapore District on Tuesday,
disrupting rail services in the region. The incident took place on the second-day
of the two-day shutdown call given by the rebels in the three states of West Bengal,
Orissa and Jharkhand demanding release of six Maoists, who were arrested earlier.
Train services in the Kharagpur division have been affected by the incident. Due
to the impact of the blast, rail slippers were blown off and a huge crater was
created below the tracks at Puturia between Midnapore and Bhadutala stations.
Railway officials, the bomb squad and security personnel have rushed to the spot
and repair work of tracks has already begun. A land mine was also found near the
tracks. Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee had on April 23 said attacks on railway
property have doubled during 2009. Replying to a query in the Rajya Sabha, Banerjee
informed that the railways has lost over Rs 500 crore due to disruptions by Maoists.
"Railways has become a target of Naxals," Banerjee said. "We have lost Rs 500
crore because of Naxal bandhs and obstructions," she added. Banerjee informed
the House that the Naxals targeted railway property 58 times in 2009, while there
were 30 incidents reported on attack on railway property by red rebels. She said
that 56 incidents were reported in 2007. Banerjee said it was impossible to man
every inch of the 65,000 kilometers rail route. "Whatever we can do in our jurisdiction,
we do," she said. "We appeal to all State Governments to take some precaution
so that we can run trains," Banerjee added. In her reply, Banerjee emphasized
that law and order was a state subject and railways could do very little with
the limited Railway Protection Force. Banerjee assured members that the Raiways
would take steps to protect its security. "Measures are taken for safety and security
of trains like running of Rajdhani and other passenger trains," she said. "However,
there is no decision regarding capping the speed of all the Rajdhani and other
super-fast trains," Banerjee added. During the period of naxal attacks, bandhs
and rail roko, running of trains are badly affected. She said trains were attacked
mostly in states of-- Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Orissa and
Chhattisgarh. "There has been adverse impact on operations, freight loading and
passenger traffic on a localised basis during bandh calls and other threats in
vulnerable areas," Banerjee said. Railway Zones like-- Dhanbad, Mughalsarai, Danapur
of East Central Railway, Asansol, Malda of Eastern Railway, Ranchi, Adra, Chakradharpur
and Kharagpur of South Eastern Railway, Waltair, Sambalpur of East Coast Railway
and Guntakal, Secunderabad and Guntur of South Central Railway are mainly affected
by the Maoists attack. |
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