Maoists up the ante in Bihar

Maoists attack a railway and police station; abduct three railway officials

Bihar has come under the Naxal fire once again. During the 48-hour bandh called by the Maoists in Bihar, Orissa, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, Bihar was the prime target for Maoist attacks, as they blew up a railway station and a police station in two different incidents.

Armed Maoists ransacked Islampur railway station in Bihar's Gaya district and abducted the stationu00a0 master and two other railway employees. "More than 100 armed Maoists stormed into the railway premise at around 11.30 pm and asked the staff members to vacate the premises," said an eyewitness.u00a0

Security personnel have started rescue raids for the abducted railway employees. Meanwhile, several trains including the Howrah-New Delhi Rajdhani and the Bhubaneshwar-New Delhi Rajdhani were halted at Gaya station.

In another attack, 200 armed Naxals opened fire at a police station in Rohtas district, Patna. The Special Forces deployed in the area countered the gunfire. S P Rohtas Vikash Vaibhav told MiD DAY, "The operation isu00a0 eployed our men at different places so that the Maoists cannot move out of the city."