Jharkhand: Maoists Torch Railway Track Construction Site, Assault Pvt Firm Employees In Latehar District

Maoists attacked a third railway construction site in a small town near the Ranchi-Latehar border in Jharkhand on Monday, setting fire to several vehicles parked on a nearby bridge.

Members of the banned CPI (Maoist) reportedly torched at least four vehicles and assaulted employees of a private firm at a railway construction site in Chandwa, Latehar, near the Ranchi border on Monday evening, as per police sources cited by news agency PTI on Monday. The attack unfolded near the Chatti river bridge within the jurisdiction of the Chandwa police station, according to reports.

Authorities swiftly responded to the scene to investigate the incident, which occurred precisely a month after a similar attack in Palamu district, where six vehicles were set ablaze, and two private road construction company employees were assaulted by CPI (Maoist) members, PTI reported. 

The attack follows a previous incident that occurred on Sunday when a group of robbers assaulted passengers and looted belongings worth Rs 76,000 on the Sambalpur-Jammu Tawi Express in Jharkhand's Latehar district, as reported by the news agency PTI, citing a railway official.

The robbery took place around midnight on Saturday between the Latehar and Barwadih stations within the Dhanbad division of the East Central Railway (ECR). Approximately 10 to 12 robbers boarded the train at Latehar station and terrorized passengers by firing shots into the air near Chhipadohar station, according to a passenger's account, the reported said. 

"Many passengers were beaten by the robbers," one passenger recounted.

The incident unfolded in the S9 coach, resulting in minor injuries to seven passengers. Additionally, the personal belongings of 13 passengers, valued at Rs 75,800, were looted, according to Amresh Kumar, the senior divisional commercial manager of the Dhanbad division.

Kumar revealed that an FIR had already been lodged and stated, "Around eight mobile phones were also looted. Four of them were found active in the morning. Our technical team is tracing their locations," as per the PTI report. 

When the train reached Daltonganj station, chaos erupted among the passengers in response to the robbery. Consequently, the train was halted for approximately two hours.

Rajesh Kumar Shah, the sub-divisional magistrate of Daltonganj, who arrived at the station during the incident, confirmed that the injured passengers had been admitted to the Medinirai Medical College and Hospital, according to the report. He noted that two of the injured individuals were in a relatively serious condition.