For 5 hours, Maoists hold Rajdhani in West Bengal

A large mob gathered under the flag of the Peoples Committee Against Police Atrocities blocked the path of the New Delhi-bound 2443A Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express in West Midnapore district this afternoon, and took the train's two drivers hostage for over four hours.

Written by Political Bureau

October 28, 2009 23:04 IST

A large mob gathered under the flag of the Peoples Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCPA) blocked the path of the New Delhi-bound 2443A Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express in West Midnapore district this afternoon, and took the train’s two drivers hostage for over four hours.

At the time of writing, combined teams of the CRPF, Railway Protection Force and West Bengal Police had secured the train.

The train was stationary at Banstala block hut between South Eastern railway’s Sardiya and Jhargram stations in the heart of West Bengal’s Naxal territory. All passengers were safe, home minister P Chidambaram said in New Delhi.

The incident came five days after the Bengal government swapped Maoist sympathisers for abducted policeman Atindranath Dutta, who was released by Maoist leader Kishenji in full media glare at a ?POW release ceremony? in Lalgarh.

The high-speed train was intercepted around 2.35 pm by about 500 tribals waving red flags. The agitators demanded an apology from the railways and the state government for violating a bandh call given by the PCPA, and the release of Chhatradhar Mahato, the leader of the Lalgarh agitation, who is now in custody.

Speaking in New Delhi, railway minister Mamata Banerjee suggested a CPM hand in the incident. She said the Marxists were blocking trains in Bengal, ?in whatever way possible?.

This article was first uploaded on October twenty-eight, twenty nine, at four minutes past eleven in the night.