ROURKELA: Train services on the busy Howrah-Mumbai main line via Rourkela were affected for over six hours after Maoists blew up railway tracks in adjacent Jharkhand late in the night on Friday. The twin blasts took place at about 2 am between Lotapahar and Sonua stations of Chakradharpur division of South Eastern Railway (SER) in the adjacent Maoist-infested West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand, around 90 km from Rourkela. The eastern regional bureau (ERB) of the banned CPI (Maoist) outfit claimed responsibilities of the blasts.
The explosions were planned by the outfit to observe five-day protest and day-long nationwide shutdown call over recent arrests of top Maoist leader Prashant Bose alias Kisan Da (75) and his wife Sheela Marandi alias Shoba. Kisan was a member of CPI (Maoist) Politburo and central committee besides secretary of the ERB. Shoba was also a central committee member.
