Patna/Ranchi, Feb 9 (IANS) Train traffic was disrupted in several places in Bihar and Jharkhand when Maoists blew up rail tracks Tuesday morning, day three of their 72-hour shutdown to protest the proposed offensive against them.
In Jharkhand, tracks were blown up in two places in Giridih district, about 190 km from the state capital Ranchi, in the early hours of Tuesday.

“Maoist rebels blew up railway tracks at two places which come under Coal Indian Cord (CIC) sections. In the first incident, Maoist rebels blew up a railway track near east cabin of Parasnath railway station. In the blast, six metres of the track was damaged.

“In the second incident, Maoists blew up railway tracks between Chaudharybandh and Karmabad railway stations of the same district,” Amrendra Das, public relations officer (PRO) of Dhanbad railway division, told IANS.

He said: “Repair work is underway. Railway services will resume soon.” Giridih is around 190 km from Ranchi.

Railway authorities cancelled seven trains and six trains were diverted. More than 3,000 buses in Jharkhand were stranded and no long route buses were operational.

In Bihar, Maoists struck in Jamui district by blasting a track near Narganjo station, about 170 km from Patna. Narganjo is situated on the Kiul-Howrah rail route of East Central Railway.

A railway official in the district said the blast disrupted rail traffic on the route and repair work was under way.

They had hit the same area early Sunday.

“Over half a dozen long route express trains were halted at different railway stations after the incident,” the official said.

An official in the Bihar home department said the Maoists’ strike call evoked no response in Patna, Gaya, Muzaffarpur, Bhagalpur and Purnea but affected life in Aurangabad, Jehanabad, Arwal and Gaya districts that are considered Maoist strongholds.

The banned Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) has called a three-day strike in four states - Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa and West Bengal - to protest the proposed offensive against them known as Green Hunt.