Maoists storm railway station in Odisha, trigger blast

A group of suspected Maoist insurgents stormed the Doikalu railway station under Sambalpur Division in Odisha's Rayagada district on Thursday night in protest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the state next month.

They ransacked the station master's office and triggered a blast in the control room using an Improvised Explosive Device (IED). The extremists also put up posters protesting the proposed visit of Modi.

According to reports, around 10-12 rebels attacked the railway station at around 12.15 am, threatened the station master and snatched away walkie-talkies. The Naxals then set off an IED in the control room, leading to disruptions in railway traffic on the route.

''The ultras pulled out station master S K Parida and triggered an explosion in the station premises. Parida and porter Gobind Hikaka were also detained by them for a brief period,'' chief public relations officer (CPRO) of East Coast Railway (ECoR) J P Mishra said.

The attackers forced the staff of a goods train halted outside the station to shut down the engine, Mishra said.

Rayagada Superintendent of Police K Siva Subramani, who rushed to the spot, said minor damage was caused to the engine of the goods train.

No railway staff or local people were hurt in the incident, the CPRO said adding control room has been able to speak to the staff.

Train services through Daikallu, located between Rayagada and Titlagarh stations, were disrupted for quite some time. A number of trains were stranded at Muniguda station, railway officials said.

The Maoists left behind handwritten posters opposing policies of Narendra Modi government at the Centre, the Naveen Patnaik regime in Odisha and dominance of non-Odia officers in state police department and administration.

They named Odisha director general of police K B Singh, inspector general (operations) D S Kutte and deputy inspector general S Saini as the non-Odia police officers who are allegedly harassing locals in the name of anti-Maoist operations.

Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Odisha on 15 and 16 April to attend the Bharatiya Janata Party's national executive meeting.

Director General of Police K B Singh said combing operation has been launched in the area by the Central Reserve Police Force and Special Operation Group personnel after the incident.

Railway officials said that movement of goods trains had resumed with restricted speed after security clearance, while steps are being taken for resumption of express and passenger trains.