Railway Board Chairman Vinay Mittal on Thursday informed that two persons, including the guard, have been injured in a Naxal attack on a passenger train in Bihar.
Mittal said the 13331 Dhanbad-Patna Intercity Train via Jhajha was detained between Jamui and Bhalui stations for about an hour and a half by the Maoists probably to snatch weapons of the Railway Police Force (RPF) escort party that was on board.
"There were reportedly five escort people there. The guard of the train has sustained a bullet injury although he is not reported to be serious, and the RPF constable has reportedly been injured quite seriously," he added.
Mittal further said the train is now being taken to Kiul, where the injured would be provided medical care.
"The train is just being drawn into Kiul. It is expected to reach Kiul in the next five to ten minutes. We have kept medical attention ready at Kiul. We have no information of injury to any passengers. And, as soon as the train comes into Kiul, we will have more information and we are hopeful that the passengers have not sustained injury," he said.
Minister of State for Home R.P.N. Singh earlier in the day condemned the attack by the Naxals on the Dhanbad-Patna Intercity Express in Bihar, saying this reflects the frustration of the ultras.
"It is unfortunate that now they have started attacking innocent people, started attacking trains and they have even started attacking political rallies and destroying and killing people in very barbaric manner," he said.
More From This Section
A group of over hundred Maoists attacked and opened fire on the Dhanbad-Patna Intercity Express in Bihar earlier this afternoon.
The Naxals targeted Railway Protection Force (RPF) jawans, who were onboard the train as a standard security precaution. The ultras wanted to snatch the weapons of the RPF jawans.
Thursday's incident takes place nineteen days after the audacious attack by the Maoists on a convoy of Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh's Bastar district, killing 28 people including PCC chief Nand Kumar Patel, his son Dinesh, Congress leader Mahendra Karma and ex-MLA Uday Mudliyar and injuring 37 others.
An all-party meet held at Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh's official 7, Race Course Road (RCR) in New Delhi earlier on June 10 emphasized that there can be no compromise on dealing with the Naxal violence.
A resolution, which was adopted at the meeting, urged the youth to leave the path of violence and pursue their goals through democratic means.
The resolution, which strongly denouncing Left-Wing Extremist violence, said nothing can be more dangerous than the insurgency to overthrow parliamentary democracy and Constitution of India through violent means.
The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, has said the government has been following a two-pronged strategy to deal with this challenge of Left Wing Extremism- sustained and proactive operations against Maoist extremists and addressing development and governance issues in Left Wing Extremist affected areas.
"We believe that there is a need to further fine tune and strengthen this strategy. We have already started work in this direction. I would not like to take your time to give details of the steps that we are taking or planning to take, but would only reaffirm that our government will not be found wanting in this regard," said Dr. Singh in his opening remarks at the all-party meeting held in wake of the May 25 Chhattisgarh Maoist attack.
"We believe that there is urgency to the need to effectively deal with the Naxalite menace. Even as we take all measures that are needed to permanently root out this menace, we must immediately ensure that Naxalite violence is held in check and attacks like the one in Chhattisgarh do not recur," he added.