Suspected Maoists abducted two railway employees from a station in Bihar’s Munger district early on Wednesday and threatened to kill them if trains continued to ply despite the strike they had called, PTI reported. Before kidnapping the officials, the militants set the signalling panel of Masudan Station on fire, disrupting railway traffic for hours.
Maoists have called for a 24-hour strike across Bihar and Jharkhand to protest against the security operations against them.
Around 15 militants attacked the station and threw some unidentified official documents into the fire they started, Government Railway Police Station House Officer (Jamalpur) Kripasagar said, adding that the police were trying to trace the abducted officials.
“After setting fire to the signalling panel, the Maoists kidnapped Assistant Station Master Mukesh Kumar and porter Nirendra Mandal and fled,” said Eastern Railway Chief Public Relations Officer Ravi Mohapatra.
Train services along the Kiul-Jamalpur route resumed at 5.30 am after the fire was doused, but they were suspended again at 6.40 am after Maoists called the control room in Malda and threatened to kill the abducted railway personnel if the services continued, Mohapatra said.
“We are running trains through alternative routes via Jhajha and Barauni,” said East Central Railway Chief Public Relations Officer Rajesh Kumar. “Some trains are also being short terminated.”
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