Thaindian News

Ranchi, Feb 1 (IANS) Authorities in Jharkhand have expressed concern over the security of railway stations ahead of a proposed offensive against Maoist guerrillas as more than 80 percent of stations are located in the rebel-infested areas.
Jharkhand has a total 216 railway stations and nearly 146 are situated in Maoist-hit areas, police said.

“Providing security to railway properties has always been a cause of concern for security forces. Maoists have now started targeting passenger trains and there is a need to provide security cover to railway stations before launching a special operation (against Maoists)” a senior police official told IANS.

Nearly 90 percent stations in the in Hatia railway division are located in Maoist-affected areas. Most of the stations in Chakradharpur railway division are also situated in Maoist infested areas.

In November last year, the rebels had targeted a passenger train by detonating a landmine on the track between Tatanagar and Chakradharpur railway stations. In the blast, a few coaches of the train were derailed and three people were killed.

A meeting of chief ministers of four Maoist-affected states of Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa and West Bengal is to be held next month in Kolkata to fine tune inter-state joint operations, the union home ministry said Jan 28.

The meeting will work out a comprehensive strategy for inter-state joint operations in rebel strongholds.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren met Home Minister P. Chidambaram in New Delhi last week and said his government would extend all help to central paramilitary forces for its anti-Maoist offensive.

When Soren was sworn in chief minister of Jharkhand for the third time in December 2009, he had remarked that the proposed offensive against Maoists, which has been named Operation Green Hunt, would not be launched without the state government’s nod.