Naxal terror in West Bengal

Signalling their aggressive intent,armed cadres of the People’s Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA) as well as Maoists laid siege to the Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express at a nondescript station called Banstala,8 km from Jhargram town, on Tuesday. Security forces rushing to the site were ambushed by the ultra-Leftist guerrillas, triggering a fierce gunfight that left a policeman injured and two PCPA men dead. Some passengers were also injured in brick-batting. The incident comes just a week after the Maoist assault on Sankrail police station. The Maoists held the train drivers hostage and kept a trainload of passengers in panic for about five hours at Banstala, between Kalaikunda and Jhargram, about 175 km from Kolkata. The drivers—initially taken to a building near the station—were later released. The incident came on a day when WB chief secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti and five senior secretaries were in Midnapore to take stock of the Maoist threat. The 2443 Up Rajdhani was running on schedule when the driver noticed logs on the tracks and a large mob rushing towards the train. It was 3 pm and the superfast was nearing Banstala. The driver quickly braked. Without warning, the mob, waving red Maoist flags, began hurling stones at the train, hitting some passengers in the process. The next instant, the drivers were bundled out by the guerrillas. “We could see them from a distance. There were about 300-400 of them. When we slowed down, some rebels climbed into our cabin and ordered us to disembark. They said they were holding up the train because the state had ‘waged a war on tribals’. We followed them and sat by the tracks,’’ driver K Ananth Rao and his assistant K G Rao said. The armed tribals then took away mobiles and walkie-talkies from the drivers and the guard. Soon, some PCPA men started painting slogans on the compartments with red ink demanding the release of their leader Chhatradhar Mahato. The passengers were told to get off the train and sit on the platform. Bewilderingly, there wasn’t a single RPF jawan in sight. Some passengers managed to place frantic calls to relatives, while the news of the hijacked Rajdhani triggered frenetic activity in the administrative machinery.
Train Terror:
W Midnapore court sends People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities chief Chhatradhar Mahato to police custody
Around 3 pm, train stopped at Banstala near Jhargram, where trees were felled onto tracks Tribals armed with axes, bows and arrows smash glass panes, tell passengers to disembark Activists abduct two drivers of BBSR-New Delhi Rajdhani Express
PCPA chief demands dialogue with railway minister Mamata Banerjee on demands
After a few hours, outfit releases drivers, apparently without negotiations