Naxals free 700 passengers,all hostages safe,unhurt

Train with nearly 700 passengers on board released by the Maoists in Jharkhand,confirmed a senior railway official. 'All passengers are safe. The train has left for its onward journey,' said Senior Divisional Railway Manager,Dhanbad,Neeraj Ambast.

Train with nearly 700 passengers on board released by the Maoists in Jharkhand,confirmed a senior railway official. “All passengers are safe. The train has left for its onward journey,” said Senior Divisional Railway Manager,Dhanbad,Neeraj Ambast.

Earlier,ahead of second phase of Lok Sabha polls,Maoists on Wednesday seized a train with nearly 700 passengers on board in Jharkhand’s Latehar district and triggered blasts in the state and adjoining Bihar during a bandh called by them.

The Maoists stopped the Gomo-Mogulsarai BDM train on Wednesday morning near Hehegarha railway station in Latehar district and “have taken over the train,” Deputy Commission Sarvendu Tathagat told reporters in Latehar,about 125 kms from Ranchi.

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The train,with nine coaches,”is packed to capacity. Each coach has a capacity of 70 to 80 passengers and people were even standing on the footboards of the coaches,” Railway PRO in Dhanbad,Amerendra Das said,indicating that there are nearly 700 passengers in the train.

“As per our information,all the passengers are safe and unharmed,” he said.

The naxalites have given a call for a 24-hour Jharkhand-Bihar bandh,which started at midnight Tuesday night,in protest against the killing of some of their cadres during recent encounters with security forces.

In widespread violence during the first phase of Lok Sabha elections,19 security force personnel were killed in planned attacks by the Maoists in Chhattisgarh,Jharkhand and Bihar.

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Maoist rebels

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