Maoists blow up rail track near Gaya in Bihar

Maoists blew up a railway track near Gaya late on Friday night, disrupting traffic on the Gaya-Mugalsari route of East Central Railway.

The explosion on the track between Taraiya and Guraru railway station occurred at around 11 pm, barely 20 minutes after the pilot engine of Howrah-Delhi Rajdhani train crossed the area, Gaya Railway DSP Sunil Kumar told PTI.

There were no casualties.

There is usually a gap of one hour between the pilot engine and the train which follows it. Following the blast, the Howrah-Delhi Rajdhani train was stopped at Taraiya station.

Many other trains including Bhubaneshwar-Delhi Rajdhani and Sealdah-Delhi Rajdhani were also stranded at Gaya Railway station.

The DSP said that senior officials have reached the site to co-ordinate repair work.

Railways had decided to run pilot engines ahead of trains following the 2003 accident of Howrah-Delhi Rajdhani in Naxal-hit Aurangabad which left over a 100 people dead.