Two persons were killed, railway tracks blasted and vehicles torched on Sunday by Maoists who went on rampage in their stronghold areas of Bihar -- Gaya, Rohtas and Aurangabad districts -- to enforce a 24-hour bandh to protest the arrest of their leaders, including its chief of Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal and north Bihar, Tushar Kant Bhattacharya.
Bhattacharya, hailing from Adilabad in Andhra Pradesh, was wanted in several cases in Maharashtra, Uttaranchal, UP, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Delhi. He was arrested by the Special Task Force from Dujra locality in Patna on September 19.
Hundreds of heavily-armed ultras of banned Communist Party of India-Maoist set ablaze six trucks and two buses on NH-2 (Grand Trunk Road) under Amas police station at around 0130 hours, official sources said.
The Naxalites gave a bandh call in Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh from Saturday night.
As a Special Auxiliary Police contingent comprising ex-servicemen reached the spot, an encounter began in which jawan Shanker Singh was killed. The driver of a private bus, Kameswar Rai, also died in cross-firing.
The Naxals took away some passengers of a bus as cover for their escape but later released them, the sources said.
In another incident at a place under Barachatti police station, the Maoists set afire seven trucks.
The ultras also blew up railway tracks in a stretch of 50 metres at Pahleja in Mughalsrai-Gaya section of the East Central Railway, disrupting movement of trains on the section for more than five hours, ECR sources said.
A five kg cane bomb was recovered from the spot, they said. Senior officials of the Railway Protection Force were camping on the spot to inquire into the incident.
National Highways in Aurangabad, Gaya and Rohtas districts wore a deserted look as private bus and truck operators suspended their services as a precautionary measure because of the bandh, official sources said.
Markets in Rafiganj, Navinagar and Hasanpur in Aurangabad districts, besides Amas, Barachati and Islampur in Gaya district were closed, they said.
Eight trains were cancelled following the bandh in Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa.
The trains which have been cancelled were Rajendra Nagar-Barkakana Palamu Express, Garhwa-Singrauli Link Express, Barwadih-Chaupan Triveni Link express, Gomoh-Chaupan passenger Gomoh-Barwadih passenger, Barwadih-Dehri passenger, Gomoh-Barkakana passenger and Barkakana-Mughalsarai passenger.
Routes of several trains were also changed due to the bandh call.
