Centre warns of more rail attacks

With trains increasingly facing the threat of Maoist attacks, the Centre has alerted Naxal-affected states and the railways against such attacks and directed them to beef-up their security to the maximum level.

The Rajdhanis, which normally run at speeds ranging between 110 and 130 km have been asked to adhere to speeds of around 75 km when running through Maoist-hit areas. Speed restrictions were imposed on other trains, too, to reduce damage to the minimum in case of an attack.

The fresh home ministry alert has come in the wake of Monday’s targeting of the Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express near Gaya by the Maoists who blasted the rail tracks.

Meanwhile, the Maoists killed two persons in Jharkhand and blew up railway tracks in four eastern states hours after they targeted the Rajdhani Express.

The Maoists are observing a shutdown in Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and three districts of Maharashtra to protest against stepped up anti-Naxal operations, price rise and arrests of some of their cadres.