PATNA, APRIL 13: Over 200 armed Naxalites stormed a crowded railway station on the New Delhi-Howrah line in Bihar, blew up the railway police station, looted a huge cache of arms and ammunition and killed five railway policemen and one porter.

The attack on Jhajha railway station— an important station in Jamui district of Bihar—took place around 5 p.m. on Sunday. It brought rail traffic to a complete halt and several important trains including the Rajdhani Express were held up at different points.

IG (Operations) S K Bhardwaj confirmed six deaths—two Special Auxiliary Police (SAP) men, two Government Railway Police (GRP) jawans, one RPF jawan and one railway porter. “A hunt has been launched to nab the Maoists,” he said.

The attack came at a time when Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was busy reshuffling and expanding his cabinet. He immediately directed IG (Operations) Bhardwaj to rush to the spot.

According to reports, over 200 armed Maoists swooped down from the hills nearby around 5 pm. The Maoists immediately fanned out and surrounded all important points on the railway platform while urging passengers not to panic.

The target of the attack was the GRP station on the platform. A large number of Maoists surrounded it and opened fire, killing and injuring the policemen, hardly prepared to face an attack of that magnitude.

Then, they looted the arms and ammunition in the police station and used dynamites to blow up the police building.

Though the police claimed that there was an encounter between the Naxals and the police, the Maoists managed to escape. Apart from blowing up the GRP station, the Naxals damaged an ATM counter, RPF booth and booking counter on the platform.

Several long-distance trains were stranded due to the attack. Reports said that the Howrah-New Delhi Rajdhani Express was about to cross the station at the time of the attack when it was stopped at a small station just before Jhajha.

Though Naxals in the recent past had attacked isolated railway stations in the region, this was the first attack on a major station.

The Naxals had once attacked a running train, killed two policemen and looted their arms near Jhajha, a junction.