Maoists blow up second railway track during Jharkhand shutdown

Ranchi (Jharkhand), Nov 29 : Maoists blew up another railway track in Simdega this morning, damaging about one meter of the line. It had damaged another railway track on Saturday.

The incidents came ahead of the second phase of Assembly polls in Jharkhand that is scheduled for December 2.

First a railway track was blown up between Dania and Jageshwar Railway stations falling under the Dhanbad Rail division. Rail traffic on this track has been disrupted following the explosion.

Last night, the Maoists used detonators to blow up a school in Pipara village of Palamu district. They also blasted a community center in the same village.

Maoists are demanding that their Zonal Committee leader Ashok Mahto be produced before the court and the media as they allege that the police has arrested him.

Jharkhand Police spokesperson V.H. Deshmukh said Ranchi Police has not arrested him. So, there is no question of him being produced before the court.

The polling will be held in 14 assembly constituencies in the second phase of Jharkhand elections. These constituencies are situated in strong Naxal belts.

--ANI