Rail tracks were damaged in Dhanbad-Chaibasa in a Maoist attack in Ranchi where Maoists blasted the Garwa Road-Barkana section at 12.55 am.
This severely impacted the train movement on Saturday in Dhanbad-Chaibasa in a Maoist attack in Ranchi and the insurgents have called a 24-hour-long shutdown protesting against the arrest of their politburo member Prashant Bose and his wife and central committee member Sheila Marandi.
A report from the Dhanbad Division of E.C. Railway said between Demu and Richughutta Station, a bomb blast set by Maoists caused the derailment of a diesel loco and two of its wheels went off-track.
The incident occurred at 12.55 am in the Garwa Road-Barkana section. The blast was executed between 206/26-29 up and down line due to which the diesel light engine 70584 was derailed, an official said.
DRM Dhanbad Aashish Bansal and other senior officials are leading the restoration operation. Maoist pamphlets listing their demands were scattered around the vicinity. As per the railway authorities, 18102 down Tata-Jammu Tawi Express has been diverted via Dehri On Sone; while 13348 down Patna-Barkakana Palamu Express has been stopped at Garhwa Road Station. Some passenger trains have been also canceled.
The Maoists also targeted the Chakardharpur Division in West Singhbhum district at 2.15 am between Lota Pahad and Sonuwa Station. However, fortunately, the blast only managed to damage some cement slippers under the tracks.
Train movement on the Rourkela-Chakardharpur railway route has been stopped. Railway authorities along with security personnel including RPF and district police are at the spot and work was on to get the tracks fully functional. The blast has impacted the movement of trains including express, mail, and passenger on the line. The incident occured because Prashant Bose and his wife Sheila Marandi were nabbed by a team of Saraikela Police on November 12.
What are The Naxalites Fighting For?
The term Naxal comes from the Village Naxalbari in West Bengal where the Naxalbari uprising of 1967 occurred. People who are engaged in the insurgency are called Naxals or Naxalite. The movement itself is referred to as Naxalism.
The Naxalite–Maoist insurgency, officially referred to as the Left Wing Extremism (LWE), is an ongoing battle between Maoist groups known as Naxalites or Naxals; a group of far-left radical communists, supportive of Maoist political sentiment and ideology, and the Indian government. The influence zone of LWE is called the Red Corridor, with 70 “total affected” districts (down from 180 in 2009) across 10 states in two coal-rich, remote, forested hilly clusters in and around the Dandakaranya-Chhattisgarh-Odisha region and tri-junction area of Jharkhand-Bihar and West Bengal.
These areas hold 40% of the country’s mineral deposits. As the government has also tried to take over those forested areas, the Naxalites fight back claiming that they are following a strategy of rural rebellion similar to a protracted people’s war against the government. As the Naxalites live in the mineral-rich states of India, the government has taken over parts of their land and they are also fighting back, in a battle against the government.
The Naxalites have frequently targeted tribal, police, and government workers in what they say is a fight for improved land rights and more jobs for the neglected agricultural laborer and the poor.
The armed wing of the Naxalite–Maoists is called the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) and is estimated to have between 6,500 and 9,500 cadres in 2013, mostly equipped with small arms.
The insurgency started after the 1967 Naxalbari uprising led by Charu Majumdar, Kanu Sanyal, and Jangal Santhal. Their origin can be traced to when the Communist Party of India (Marxist) split in 1967, leading to the creation of the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist). After in-party fighting and counter-measures taken by the government, the CPI(ML) split into many smaller factions carrying out terrorist attacks mostly in the Red corridor areas.
Naxalism is largely active in tribal and rural areas of India which are remote and under-developed, and experts have advocated ethical governance, development, and security as the solution. They often take tamper with railway tracks causing the derailing of trains causing drastic accidents and death.
The group is officially banned by the state governments of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Andhra Pradesh, among others. … Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) and all its formations and front organizations have been banned by the Government of India. Following the ban, the Maoists are liable for arrest under the UAPA.
Increasing Attacks
The attacks have increased in intensity.
In November 2020: A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel succumbed to his injuries on November 29, 2020, while nine commandos were attacked after Maoists triggered an IED blast in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district.
March 2020: On March 21 last year, in a deadly attack, 17 security personnel, including 12 from DRG, were killed in a Maoist ambush in the Minpa area of the Sukma district of Chhattisgarh.
February 2018: On February 18, 2018, two Chhattisgarh police personnel were killed and six others injured in a gun battle with CPI (Maoist) at Bhejji in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh.
April 2017: On April 24, 2017, in a horrific battle, as many as 26 CRPF were killed in the encounter that took place between the Burkapal-Chintagufa area in the middle of Maoist violence-hit south Bastar district of Chhattisgarh.
March 2017: On March 12, 2017, at least 12 CRPF jawans were killed in a Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma. After killing the jawans, the Maoists stole 10 weapons from the dead troopers and detonated an IED explosive.
The Naxalbari movement began as an armed peasants uprising. Critics state that insensitive nature and apathy of the political system towards tribals remained one of the most important factors that led to such uprisings
