The 48-hour 'all India shutdown' called by the Communist Party of India-Maoist has begun amid high security and alert in five Naxal-infested states.
The two-day shutdown has been called to protest the killing of Maoist leader Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad in Andhra Pradesh's Adilabad District last week.
Maoists have urged people to avoid traveling on trains on Wednesday and Thursday. Railways, milk, ambulance and fire services have, however, been exempted from the shutdown.
Meanwhile, the Railways has, as a precautionary measure, announced that pilot trains would run during the day in Naxal-affected areas and all trains will run in bunches of five. Seven trains were cancelled and routes of five diverted in Jharkhand.
The cancelled trains include Palamau Express, Barwadih-Dehri Asansol Express, Tata-Kharagpur Express and Chakradharpur-Gomo Express. The trains whose routes have been diverted include Howrah-Jabalpur Shaktipunj Express, Howrah Varanasi Intercity Express and Tata-Jammu Tawi Express.
Andhra Pradesh police reportedly killed Azad in an encounter in the Jogapur forest area early Friday morning while he was attempting to cross into neighbouring Maharashtra. Azad was a member of the central committee of the outlawed outfit and carried a reward of Rs 12 lakh on his head. Azad, who did his MTech in Warangal, was linked to the Maoist movement for more than 35 years and used to write articles for magazines on Maoist ideology. There are reports that Azad was assigned the task of revising the Maoist movement in India.
There are also reports that Azad's death could lead to reprisal attacks in Maoist strongholds in Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal following which the security agencies have sounded a high alert across these five states.
Maoist attacks have increased this year, especially after the centre launched a coordinated security offensive involving tens of thousands of police trying to flush out the rebels from their jungle hideouts in central and eastern India.
Rail and road services were disrupted in some parts of Orissa as a two-day Bharat Bandh called by the Maoists in protest against the death of a top Naxal leader began on Wednesday. State-run bus service was suspended in Maoist-hit districts like Koraput, Malkangiri, Rayagada and Gajapati as a precautionary measure leaving passengers stranded at many places, police said. A passenger train and some goods trains were suspended in Sundargarh district, while private buses also stopped plying in some areas fearing Naxal attack.
Vehicular movement in several rebel-infested regions remained restricted as the bandh evoked a mixed response in the state. The bandh had little impact in urban areas though shops and business establishments remained closed in rural pockets of Malkangiri, Gajapati, Koraput, Rayagada, Keonjhar and Sundargarh, they said, adding the ultras blocked a road by felling trees in Kalimela area of Malkangiri district.
No untoward incident has so far been reported from any part of the state where the situation remained peaceful, a senior police official said. Security was tightened and patrolling intensified in Maoist affected areas, while a strict vigil was maintained in areas bordering Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal.
Special arrangements were made to ensure safety of train passengers and railway property as they have become a soft target of the ultras, the sources said.
A report from Rourkela said the situation in Maoist-hit Sundargarh and neighbourng Keonjhar districts remained peaceful with no untoward incident. DIG (WR), Y K Jethwa, said the situation in three police districts of Sundargarh, Rourkela and Keonjhar remained peaceful. Elaborate security arrangements have been made in these areas where patrolling was intensified by the Central Reserve Police Force, Special Operations Group and local police. Government Railway Police (GRP) sources said a few goods trains running from Rourkela to Bimlagarh to transport iron ore and other raw materials to Rourkela Steel Plant during day time and one passenger train running between Biramitrapur and Barsuna, were suspended till Thursday in view of the bandh call.
The trains on main Howrah-Mumbai line are running as usual, sources said, adding wherever necessary trains are running with pilot train. Passenger bus services were affected particularly on NH-215 passing through Maoist prone areas in Sundargarh and Keonjhar district. Very few trucks were plying, police said.
