Latehar, Jharkhand: Maoist rebels blew up a railway track in Latehar, Jharkhand, on Monday, around an hour after the Rajdhani Express crossed the stretch, and bombed a mobile phone tower in neighbouring Palamu district during a 48-hour general strike called by them in five states, including Jharkhand.
Scarred: Security personnel at the site of the blown-up mobile tower at Tukbera village in Palamu, Jharkhand. PTI
Train services were disrupted on the Barwadih-Barkakana route following the incident.
Around 20 rebels blasted the track between Kumundi and Hehegarha railway stations, about 150km from Ranchi, Latehar station master P. N. Tiwari said.
The Rajdhani Express crossed the spot at 5.30am. The blast took place around 6.30am. Latehar superintendent of police Kuldeep Diwedi said the blast was not targeted at any train.
In a separate incident in Palamu, the rebels blew up a mobile tower early Monday.
Around 50 armed Maoists reached the tower, situated on the Aurangabad-Medininagar route in the district, and stuffed it with explosives before blowing it up, said the deputy superintendent of police, Brajmohan Paswan.
The blast left a big crater on the spot, about 200km from Ranchi, he added.
The Communist Party of India (Maoist) said in a statement that it had enforced a two-day shutdown in Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal, Bihar and Chhattisgarh following the arrest of two of the party’s senior members a few days ago in Bihar.
The police, however, have not confirmed their arrest.