’They hijacked train with bows, arrows’

Passengers of the Bhubaneswar Rajdhani had never seen militants with such crude arms

'They hijacked train with bows, arrows'

Passengers of the Bhubaneswar Rajdhani had never seen militants with such crude arms

Chanchal Ajmeria, 40, hadn't had any real encounter with militants. And the ones she had seen on television and movies were armed with sophisticated guns. She couldn't have imagined that on her first militant encounter, she would meet rebels who still rely on bows and arrows and can take a train hostage with the seemingly simple weapons.

It was 2.30 in the afternoon on October 27, and Ajmeria was trying to get some sleep on the lower berth of the second AC compartment, when she heard people shouting slogans. She looked out of the window to a horrendous sight.

"I can't forget it. A mob was running towards the train armed with axes, swords, bows and arrows. We were immediately instructed to close all the doors. Within minutes there was panic everywhere inside the train. There was no police force to protect us," Ajmeria told MiD DAY, while sharing her experiences on board the train ambushed by the Maoists.

For almost an hour, about 300 Naxals kept trying to get inside the train. However, after failing to get in, they started pelting stones to break the windows. At least four window glass of each compartment were smashed.
"We had no option but to give in to their demands. They asked us to get down and promised they will not hurt us. They asked us not to use mobile phones and stay calm. All the passengers along with the train staff were taken to the adjacent jungle. I kept trying to reach my family but wasn't able to," said Ajmeria.
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However some of the passengers were lucky enough to inform their near and dear ones on phones. Amrish Agrawal, a financial analyst with an investment firm, had come to pick his parents who were returning from a pilgrimage to Puri.

"While waiting at platform no 1, I got a call from my father at around 3 pm and he told me about the incident," Agrawal said.

"I was left speechless. I kept trying their phones afterwards but they were unreachable. I contacted some of my relatives in intelligence agencies. Sitting in Delhi I could not do anything else. I informed my bosses and kept watching TV for updates," he said. The first compartment in which the Naxals managed to get in was A1 followed by B1 and other coaches one after another. All the passengers were asked to get down with their luggage as the rebels threatened to burn the train.

However, they kept waiting. When it turned dark, the passengers were again asked to board the train. As they could not speak English or Hindi, there were problems in communicating with them, said Somnath, a pantry car employee. The horrifying 34-hour journey ended when the train arrived at the New Delhi Station around 7 pm on Wednesday, nine hours and fifty minutes behind schedule.

The story so far
Around 300 activists of the People's Committee Against Police Atrocities, spearheading the Lalgarh movement since November 2008, stopped the Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani express near Jhargram station and forced the driver and assistant driver out of the train. The train was seized by tribals in West Midnapore district on Tuesday but was freed by security forces after a five-hour hostage drama.

The activists, under the aegis of a Lalgarh group People's Committee against Police Atrocities, demanded the release of their jailed leader Chhatradhar Mahato.

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