In an audacious attack on a Patna-bound train, about 150 armed Maoists on Thursday shot dead a Railway Protection Force (RPF) jawan and injured two others including the train guard after forcibly stopping it in a forested area in Bihar.
The Maoists stopped the Dhanbad-Patna Intercity Express near Kunder halt between Jamui and Mananpur stations at around 1.20 PM and fired indiscriminately for about half-an-hour, Additional Director General of Police (ADG), Law and Order, S K Bharadwaj said.
They shot dead RPF jawan Sukanta Dev and injured a passenger and the train guard, the ADG said, adding that the Naxals took away weapons from two RPF personnel and later let the train go on its onward journey. The injured train guard and the RPF jawan were in a serious condition, Railway Minister C P Joshi said in Delhi.
The passengers were safe and the train resumed its onward journey after about 75 minutes, Railway Board Chairman Vinay Mittal said. CRPF teams from Lakhisarai and Jamui districts have been rushed to the spot.
Bihar's Director General of Police (DGP) Abhayanand said he would give details about the sequence of events after getting a report from the District Magistrate of Lakhisarai. Minister of State for Railway Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that the Maoists were now looking for soft targets to create a fear psychosis.
"They are now cornered. That is why they are now looking for soft targets," he said.
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