Maoists trigger blast on railway track in J'khand, train services disrupted

A portion of railway tracks in Jharkhand's Giridih district was damaged due to a blast that was triggered by suspected members of banned CPI (Maoist) in the early hours of Thursday, an official said.

Train services on the Howrah-New Delhi route were disrupted for around six hours after the explosion, RPF Dhanbad Senior Commandant Hemant Kumar said.

"A rail track between Chichaki and Chaudharybandh stations was damaged in the blast that was triggered by the Maoists," he said.

Train services between the two stations were stopped at 12.30 am after the explosion and restored around 6.30 am, he said.

"The panel clip of the rail track was damaged. Several trains on the route were diverted," the official said.

The banned outfit had called for a 24-hour bandh in Jharkhand to protest against the arrest of its top leader Prashant Bose alias Kishan Da, who was carrying a bounty of Rs 1 crore on his head, by the Jharkhand Police.

Bose was the mastermind behind more than 100 incidents of attack and arson in Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Giridih Superintendent of Police Amit Renu reached the spot after the blast, and an investigation has been initiated, an officer said.