150 Maoists attack train in Bihar; 3 killed, 5 injured

Over 150 armed Maoists Thursday carried out a daring attack on a Patna-bound train, killing three persons, including an Railway Protection Force jawan, and injuring five others in Bihar's Naxal-affected Jamui district before looting passengers and fleeing with weapons.

Police and railway officials said RPF jawan Sukhnath D Singh and a passenger were killed in the attack while Kumar Amit, a Patna-based Bihar police sub-inspector, was found dead in an AC coach when the Dhanbad-Patna Inter-City Express reached Keul at Lakhisarai, ECR Chief Public Relation Officer (CPRO) Amitabh Prabhakar and Lakhisarai DSP Vijay Prasad said.

Five persons, identified as K P Singh (train guard), Manoj Kumar Singh (railway employee at Jamalpur), Dharmendra Sah (Lakhisarai), P K Tripathi (Patna) and Satish Kumar (Muzaffarpur) suffered injuries and were given treatment at Keul station, Prabhakar said adding that Manoj Kumar Singh's condition was stated to be serious.

Around 150 Maoists forcibly stopped the train near Kunder Halt between Jamui and Mananpur railway stations, about 170 km from Patna, at 1320 hours and fired indiscriminately for about half-an-hour on the train and its passengers, Additional

Director General of Police (ADG), Law and Order, S K Bharadwaj told PTI.

The Maoists also looted weapons from two RPF personnel and later let the train go towards its onward journey, he said.

Two companies of CRPF have rushed to the spot to carry out a combing-cum-search operation against the Maoists who retreated into the forest after carrying out the daring daylight attack on the train, Jamui District Magistrate Shashikant Tiwari said.

The operations against the Maoists was being led by the Deputy Superintendent of Police Md. Abdullah, he said, adding blood stains have been found on various spots which pointed to injuries or casaulties among the retreating ultras.

The Maoists also detonated explosives to deter the security forces from chasing them, Tiwari said.

The DM said that prime facie it appeared that the Maoists attacked the train to loot passengers as also weapons from the RPF escort party.