On Saturday morning, armed Maoists attacked a Bihar railway station on the Patna-Kolkata route. They kidnapped the station master for around half an hour.
In addition, the insurgents threatened to blow up the station building. The railway activity on the line was disrupted for more than 4 hours. The Chaura railway station was surrounded. It is located in the Maoist-infested Jamui district.
The insurgents arrived in Chaura around 6 a.m., dressed in police uniforms, and barged into Station Master Vinay Kumar’s cabin. They instructed Kumar to halt operations because the region was celebrating Maoist Week.
“They introduced themselves as Maoists and pulled out their fire guns. When the station master inquired why he would do such a thing,” said one of the other railway employees at the station.
The most of the officials at the railway station were stunned. When they saw the armed Maoists inside the station, it was a stressful situation. “The authorities, including station master Vinay Kumar, managed to flee after a while,” he said.
Pramod Kumar Mandal, Superintendent of Jamui, confirmed the event.
“We started a search operation in the entire area, including the railway tracks and station, and then gave railway officials the green signal to resume service on this route,” Mandal added.
Major trains, such as the Himgiri express, were halted at a number of stations along the route. After police and CRPF officials checked the entire area and were given the green signal, the railway operation was resumed.
