Jamui, June 13 (MNS/ANI): Three persons were killed (two passengers and one RPSF constable) in an ambush when Dhanbad Intercity Express Train No.13331 was stopped by a group of suspected Maoists at around 1.20 PM near Jamui Railway station in Bihar today. Stating that the incident was very extremely unfortunate and a matter of profound grief, the Minister of Railways Dr. C. P. Joshi announced an enhanced ex-gratia amount of Rs 5 lakh to the next kin of each of those who were killed in this incident, Rs. one lakh to one passenger who was grievously injured and Rs. 25,000/- to each of four persons (three passengers and train Guard) who received simple injuries. The Minister also apprised the media that all possible help including medicinal facilities were immediately made available to the passengers including the injured persons. The affected train resumed its operation at 3.30 p.m. and all trains are running normally on this route.
Director General, Railway Protection Force (RPF) has rushed to the incident spot. The Ministry of Railways is in constant touch with the Ministry of Home Affairs and the State Government of Bihar to ensure safe and normal train operations in the area.
Minister of State for Home R.P.N. Singh earlier in the day condemned the attack by the Naxals on the Dhanbad-Patna Intercity Express in Bihar, saying this reflects the frustration of the ultras.
“It is unfortunate that now they have started attacking innocent people, started attacking trains and they have even started attacking political rallies and destroying and killing people in very barbaric manner,” he said.
A group of over hundred Maoists attacked and opened fire on the Dhanbad-Patna Intercity Express in Bihar earlier this afternoon.
The Naxals targeted Railway Protection Force (RPF) jawans, who were onboard the train as a standard security precaution. The ultras wanted to snatch the weapons of the RPF jawans.
Thursday’s incident takes place nineteen days after the audacious attack by the Maoists on a convoy of Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar district, killing 28 people including PCC chief Nand Kumar Patel, his son Dinesh, Congress leader Mahendra Karma and ex-MLA Uday Mudliyar and injuring 37 others.
An all-party meet held at Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh’s official 7, Race Course Road (RCR) in New Delhi earlier on June 10 emphasized that there can be no compromise on dealing with the Naxal violence.
A resolution, which was adopted at the meeting, urged the youth to leave the path of violence and pursue their goals through democratic means.
The resolution, which strongly denouncing Left-Wing Extremist violence, said nothing can be more dangerous than the insurgency to overthrow parliamentary democracy and Constitution of India through violent means.
The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, has said the government has been following a two-pronged strategy to deal with this challenge of Left Wing Extremism- sustained and proactive operations against Maoist extremists and addressing development and governance issues in Left Wing Extremist affected areas.
“We believe that there is a need to further fine tune and strengthen this strategy. We have already started work in this direction. I would not like to take your time to give details of the steps that we are taking or planning to take, but would only reaffirm that our government will not be found wanting in this regard,” said Dr. Singh in his opening remarks at the all-party meeting held in wake of the May 25 Chhattisgarh Maoist attack.
“We believe that there is urgency to the need to effectively deal with the Naxalite menace. Even as we take all measures that are needed to permanently root out this menace, we must immediately ensure that Naxalite violence is held in check and attacks like the one in Chhattisgarh do not recur,” he added.
Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/three-killed-five-injured-after-naxals-attack-passenger-train-in-bihar/
