Ranchi: Maoists abducted and killed a
local Congress leader in Jharkhand`s Garhwa district ahead of
their two-day bandh in five states on Wednesday.
Bardhan Kachhu, a 45-year-old local tribal leader of
Garhwa, was kidnapped from Barkol village around 8.00 pm last
night by the Maoists and shot dead, Garhwa Superintendent of
Police Richard Lakra said.
The Left-wing guerrillas are observing a two-day bandh
beginning midnight last night in Jharkhand, West Bengal,
Orissa, Chhatisgarh and Bihar against the alleged anti-people
policies of the government.
This is the fifth 48-hour bandh this year, affecting
mining activity in the mineral-rich state.
To avoid Naxal-pockets, up and down trains of
Ranchi-Delhi Swarna Jayanti Express, Ranchi-Varanasi
inter-city and Sambalpur-Varanasi inter-city have been
diverted through Gomo-Gaya-Mughalsarai route, Railway sources
said here.
As per a new order, the trains will run at a speed
of 65 km in Naxal areas during nights, the sources said.
Though security forces have been deployed in strength
at strategic places, including national highways, buses and
trucks have kept off the routes for fear of Naxal attack.
PTI
