Two goods trains derailed in Jharkhand's Seraikela-Kharswan district, leading to the cancellation and diversion of several express and passenger trains.
A senior security official has claimed that the Maoists had carefully planned the detention of the New Delhi-Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express and the five-hour hostage crisis on Tuesday.
The incident occurred at the Santhaldih railway crossing, near the Bhojudih railway station, and the tractor got stuck between the railway track and the gate.
A stampede at New Delhi Railway Station on Saturday night claimed 18 lives, including 11 women and 5 children. Thousands of passengers, mostly Maha Kumbh pilgrims, crowded the station to board trains to Prayagraj, leading to a surge of people that became impossible to manage. The chaos unfolded when a last-minute platform change announcement caused confusion and panic, resulting in a crush of people at an escalator. As dawn broke, railway staff began the grim task of cleaning up, while grieving families gathered at the hospital to identify their loved ones.
Several trains under the purview of SER and ECoR were cancelled or diverted on Wednesday, including the premium Rajdhani Express and Vande Bharat Express, owing to the blockade by members of the Kurmi community in Jharkhand and Odisha, officials said.
Passengers, who were traveling by the Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express which was held up by Maoist-backed agitators for over five hours on Tuesday in West Midnapore in West Bengal, on Wednesday voiced their apprehensions over the lack of security measures in passenger trains.
Former Union railway minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, on Sunday, said that the Railway's mismanagement led to the stampede at the New Delhi railway station.
Chief Public Relations Officer of Northern Railway, Himanshu Shekhar Upadhyay on Sunday said that a passenger coming towards platforms 14-15 slipped and fell on the stairs, and many passengers standing behind him were hit, leading to the stampede at New Delhi Railway Station.
Sources at the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narain Hospital indicated that a majority of the victims who sustained injuries in Saturday night stampede suffered lower limb injuries while others suffered from bone injuries.
The death toll in the overnight stampede at the New Delhi Railway Station climbed to 18 on Sunday, with a senior railway official saying the incident occurred after some passengers slipped and fell on others while coming down from a footover bridge.
In two separate attacks, suspected Maoists triggered a blast on the railway tracks in Jharkhand's Giridih district, damaging its fish plates, and also blew up a mobile tower in Hazaribag, the police said.
Rejecting the demands for withdrawal of security forces and release of prisoners by Maoist-backed tribal agitators, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee on Tuesday night said the police have been asked to move to the detained Rajdhani Express to rescue the passengers."We can't just accept such demands like withdrawal of security forces and release of some prisoners," the chief minister told a press conference in Kolkata.
Passengers, who were traveling by the Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express which was held up by Maoist-backed agitators for over five hours on Tuesday in West Midnapore in West Bengal, on Wednesday voiced their apprehensions over the lack of security measures in passenger trains."There was no security arrangement in the train. No security personnel of the police department or the railway police force were there," said one passenger.
The protest started at 6 am on Tuesday with the blockade of the old National Highway 6, which connects Kolkata to Mumbai, at Khemasuli in Kharagpur Local police station area by Kudmi Samaj West Bengal, they said.
A policeman was on Tuesday gunned down by Maoists in Jharkhand's Sareikela-Kharsawan district as their 48-hour shutdown entered the second day.
Passengers on board the Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express had a miraculous escape when ten of its coaches and the engine derailed near Gaya station following an explosion triggered by the Maoists, police said.
Passengers of the Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express had a harrowing time on Tuesday, when armed tribal agitators halted their train, smashed glass panes of the AC compartments and forcibly opened the doors, before taking away the drivers, at Banstala in Maoist-infested West Midnapore district. "The train had just crossed Jhargram Station and was passing through a densely forested patch when a large mob attacked it with stones," recalled a passenger.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said all families in Puri and in those parts of Khurda, which had been 'extremely severely affected' in the storm, will get 50 kg of rice, Rs 2,000 in cash and polythene sheets, if covered under the Food Security Act (FSA).
With Cyclone Phailin set to hit Odisha and Andhra Pradesh coasts on Saturday evening, rail, road and air traffic has been badly disrupted in the states.
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A total of 1,177 passengers are booked on the New Delhi-Bilaspur special train, which departed at 4 pm, while 1,122 passengers are booked on the New Delhi-Dibrugarh special train that departed at 4:45 pm.
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