Red mayhem: Railway stations set on fire, mobile towers blown, PS raided during 24-hr bandh

MAOIST CAUSED DESTRUCTION DURING THE 24-HOUR SHUTDOWN
NAXALS PROTESTING ARREST OF A TOP RANKING LEADER

June 16, 2011, Patna: Angry Naxals on Thursday set afire a railway station, raided a police station, blew up six mobile phone towers and also blasted a portion of railway tracks during the 24-hour shutdown in Bihar to protest the arrest of a top ranking leader who was instrumental in the merger of two dreaded Maoist outfits, the Maoist Communist Centre and the People’s War Group and also edited organisation’s mouthpiece Lal Chingari (Red Spark).

Jagdish Yadav, a politburo member considered holding number 8 position within the organisation, was arrested by the police from a doctor’s clinic in south Bihar’s Gaya district on Sunday evening while he was getting treated for skin disorders and asthma.

Police said the agitated rebels stormed Nadaul railway station in Jehanabad district, close to the capital city of Bihar, and set it afire by sprinkling inflammable in the wee hours after holding hostages the railway staffs on duty.

Reports said the fire destroyed the official files, furniture as well as electronic gadgets, leading to disruption of railway traffic on the busy Patna-Gaya section of the East-Central railway for hours.

Six mobile phone towers blown up

The rebels went more aggressive in nearby Gaya district where they blew up six mobile phone towers at different places by pouring petrol and using dynamites which have badly destroyed the telecommunication networks.

The heavily-armed rebels also attacked a police station at Kothi in the same district but the alert policemen faced them boldly and finally chased them away. No one, though, was injured from either side.

Railway tracks

Maoists also blasted a portion of railway tracks in Gaya district which further disrupted rail communication for some hours.

Maoists have called for a 24-hour shutdown in Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhatisgarh states to protest the arrest of their leader Jagdish Yadav having many aliases, such as Jagdish Master, Akhileshji, Prabhatji, Bhupeshji and Satisji.

Medical care

The police also arrested the doctor providing medical care to the dreaded Maoist who had constantly evaded arrests for the past over 40 years.

This was the second successive setback for the Maoists in the past one month. Earlier on April 29, the police had arrested three top Maoist leaders identified as Pulendu Shekhar Mukherjee aka Shahebda, Varanasi Subhramanium alias Sukant and Vijay Kumar Arya alias Jaspalji, all members of the central committee, from Barsoi village in eastern Bihar’s Katihar district.