Chhattisgarh Naxals damage railway bridge, Essar property

Chhattisgarh Naxals damage railway bridge, Essar property
Raipur, May 27: Activists of banned Naxal outfit CPI (Maoist) on Sunday triggered two landmines blasts, blowing up a railway bridge and track, and burnt properties of Essar Steel in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh as part of a bandh.

However, there were no reports of any casualties during the bandh in the Bastar region, police said.

A group of armed Naxalites triggered landmines blasts and damaged a railway bridge between Bacheli and Kirandul, about 425 km from here, Dantewada police told reporters by phone.

Due to the damaged bridge, three wagons of a goods train derailed, they said.

When the train stopped, about 15 Naxalites surrounded the driver and the guard and took away their walki-talkies (wireless sets). They also left behind pamphlets demanding a probe into the "fake" encounter in Bijapur district and action against the superintendent of police Ratan Lal Dangi.

In another incident, the Maoists damaged the railway track between Bhansi and Bacheli by landmine blast, disrupting transportation of iron ore from Dantewada to the rest of the country, they said.

The ultras also burnt down some machineries at an Essar Steel facility in Maddadi, police added.

The Maoists were observing bandh in Dandakaranya area of Bastar region of Chhattisgarh and parts of Orissa, Maharashtra and Madhya pradesh to protest alleged fake encounters by the police.

Zeenews