Ranchi: The Maoists on Sunday began their two-day
Bharat bandh by blowing up railway tracks in two districts of
Jharkhand, even as the death toll in the Naxal attack on the
convoy of independent MP and former assembly speaker Inder
Singh Namdhari rose to 11.
Superintendent of Police Kuldip Diwedi said a group of
Maoists used an IED to blow up a stretch of tracks between
Gomia and Dumri railway stations of the East Central Railway
in Bokaro district in the small hours on Sunday.
Another group of the left wing extremists blasted tracks
between Hehegara and Chhipadohar railway stations in Latehar
district, police sources said in Latehar.
Hours before the bandh called to protest against the
killing of top leader Kishanji in West Bengal last month,
began at midnight, the ultras triggered an IED blast targeting
the convoy of Namdhari, MP from Chatra, at Ladu More in
Latehar district.
Namdhari, who had gone to Latehar to attend a function,
narrowly escaped as the explosion occurred moments after his
car passed the spot but the police escort car following him
came under the impact of the explosion.
With one more policeman succumbed to his injuries on
Saturday night, the toll has increased to 11.
While an 8-year-old boy and six policemen died on the
spot, one died on the way to hospital while three others
succumbed to injuries at Medininagar hospital, Latehar Deputy
Commissioner Rahul Purwar said.
The child was near the spot when the IED explosion took
place.
On Saturday, DGP G S Rath had said two civilians, including
the driver of the escort car, and eight policemen and were
killed.
However, it was later known that the driver the car was a
police department employee and not a civilian, said Latehar
Superintendent of Police B D Sharma.
The two seriously injured policemen were being shifted
from Medininagar hospital to Ranchi.
PTI
