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Maoist insurgency : Naxalites hijack train |
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Even as the Centre is talking about directing the state governments to launch a massive offensive against Naxal groups, the Maoists hijacked a passenger train in Jharkhand on March 13 and held the rail personnel and passengers hostage for twelve hours. Luckily, they later abandoned the train which pulled into Latehar station in Jharkhand on the morning of March 14, with all 110 passengers safe.
There are reports that security personnel may have been the real target of the train attack. It is learnt that the Maoists, after taking over the passenger train, waited for the security forces to show up in a rescue train which they planned to attack. Anticipating their move, the policemen, led by Latehar Dy. S.P. Anand Joseph Tigga, approached the site - 25 km. from Latehar - on foot. As dawn broke, Naxalites abandoned the passenger train and left. “When we reached, we found everything fine,” said Tigga. The only traces of the tense night were the burnt seat of engine driver Karma Oraon and bullet-marks on the engine body.
In New Delhi, the Railways shifted the onus on the Jharkhand government saying the state had provided no specific intelligence inputs about a probable train hijack.
Railway Protection Force (RPF) Director General A.K. Suri, who said the Railways had become a “soft target”, called for the creation of a well-equipped Federal Police mandated to tackle such acts of terrorism.
“Being the most visible sign of the Government, the Railways have become soft targets of terror activities. While State has the authority to maintain law and order, often Railways are held accountable for untoward incidents,” Suri said.
In another incident in Jharkhand, Maoists killed at least four armed police personnel after burning down a bus on March 17. The extremists trapped the police after informing a police station on the borders of Latehar and Palamu district about an ongoing bus dacoity. When a police team left for the spot where the bus was burnt, they encountered a landmine blast on a small bridge.
Meanwhile, the Centre has directed Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh governments to launch an offensive against Naxal groups, which according to intelligence inputs, are planning major strikes in the two states. The Home Ministry’s annual report says that deaths due to Naxal violence in Andhra Pradesh jumped three-fold from 74 in 2004 to 206 in 2005. Similarly, in Chhattisgarh, the figure almost doubled from 83 to 165. Ministry officials said another area of concern was Maharashtra, where casualties of Naxal violence soared from 15 in 2004 to 53 in 2005.
It is not just these three states that witnessed a jump in Naxal violence. There was a marginal increase overall with the number of incidents going up to 1594 in 2005 as compared to 1533 in the previous year.
Apart from the strong message from the Government, Union Home Secretary V.K. Duggal has convened a meeting of the Naxal Coordination Centre later this month to review the situation in the 12 affected states. The states will also be asked to speed up the formation of India Reserve (IRP) battalions to be deployed in sensitive areas.
According to Ministry sources, Naxal groups in the country are getting support from similar groups in Nepal, particularly the Communist party of Nepal (Maoist). While 140 CPN (Maoist) cadres were arrested between 2001-2004, as many as 40 were arrested last year.
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