வட இந்தியாவில் மாவோயிஸ்டுகள் ரயில்களை உடைத்தனர்

மாவோயிஸ்டு அசுரர்கள் இரண்டு குட்ஸ் ரயில் வண்டிகளை தாக்கினார்கள். பல இடங்களில் சாலைகள் மீது வண்டிகள் செல்லாதவண்ணம் அடைப்பு செய்தனர்.

Maoists destroy trains, halt transport in India strike
26 Jun 2007 11:40:13 GMT
Source: Reuters
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Background
Indian Maoist violence
More (Adds mining suspended, new violence)

RANCHI, India, June 26 (Reuters) - Maoist insurgents attacked two goods trains and paralysed public transport in parts of central and eastern India on Tuesday at the start of a two-day strike against a controversial government industrial policy.

The Maoists, who operate across 13 Indian states, called the strike to protest against special economic zones (SEZs), low-tax enclaves created to boost industrial and export growth that have sparked protests from farmers who will lose their land.

"The highways look deserted and shops are closed and we are quickly moving additional forces to vulnerable areas," Mohammed Nihal, a senior police officer in the eastern state of Jharkhand, said.

State-run iron ore mining operations in the region were also shut down, authorities said.

Thousands of people in India have been killed since the Maoists began their insurgency in the late 1960s.

On Tuesday, a goods train engine was blown up and another set ablaze in Jharkhand. Rebels also set ablaze five trucks that were transporting minerals, police said.

In neighbouring Chhattisgarh, Maoist rebels hacked to death two villagers of a state-backed anti-Maoist group.

They also blew up several electric poles in Chhattisgarh's heavily forested, restive Bastar region, disrupting the power supply in many places, officials said.

Mining operations of the National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC), which runs the Bailadila mines in the state, were suspended, with officials fearing financial losses.

Bus services were disrupted and many shops closed across Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.

Dozens of trains were also held up as rebels in Chhattisgarh -- the state worst-hit by Maoist violence -- blew up a stretch of railway track in the restive Dantewada region to stop the transportation of iron ore to southern India.

The Maoists were also blocking highways to stop movement of vehicles in the mineral-rich state.

Extra police were deployed in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh and armed guards protected several SEZ locations, including the port city of Vishakhapatnam and Nellore.

Maoists, who say they are fighting for the rights of poor peasants and landless labourers, stepped up protests after the federal government announced it would set up SEZs across India.

In March, at least 14 villagers were killed in clashes between police and protesters in West Bengal, where the state government planned to set up a chemical hub on farmers' lands. (Additional reporting by Reuters reporters in Raipur and Hyderabad)