Suspected Maoists triggered a landmine blast on a railway track near Jhargram in West Midnapore district on Wednesday, injuring two drivers of a goods train and leaving the engine of the freight train damaged.
The attack came on the second day of the two-day five-state bandh called by the Maoists and disrupted train services on the Kharagpur-Tata Nagar section of South Eastern Railway.
The incident took place at Khatkhura halt station near here when the landmine detonated as soon as the engine of the goods train passed over it.
The engine and windshield of the train were damaged by the blast, which left a two-feet deep crater at the spot. The driver and the assistant driver of the freight train were injured by shards of glass.
Police and railway officials said several rail sleepers were blown up and the overhead power cable cut on both tracks by the impact of the blast. Rail services were halted in both tracks with several long-distance trains either diverted or stranded at various stations since 2 am.
Railway officials along with police and paramilitary forces have reached the spot and repair work has begun.
Several trains including Howrah-Puroshattampur Express were diverted and other trains such as Howrah-Tata Nagar Steel Express, UP and down Howrah-Hatia Express, Sambaleshwari Express and other local and passenger trains have been stranded at various stations.
Meanwhile, life has come to a standstill in Jungle Mahal areas of West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia districts with no traffic on the roads and shops and markets closed.
Maoists also blew up a panchayat office building in Orissa's Malkangiri district on Wednesday.
A large number of armed ultras stormed into Badigata village in Kalimela area in the wee hours of Wednesday and triggered a landmine explosion to blow up the panchayat building, Inspector-in-charge of Kalimela police station D Mishra said.
Maoists, who had attacked the panchayat office nearly six months ago, also chanted anti-government and anti-police slogans, police said.
The bandh affected vehicular movement in Naxal-affected districts of Malkangiri, Koraput, Gajapati, Rayagada and Sundargarh, while the remaining 25 districts in Orissa remained unaffected by the shut-down.
Passenger buses and other vehicles remained off the road fearing Naxal attack, leaving many people stranded at various places, police sources said.
Though 17 of the 30 districts in Orissa suffer from Maoist insurgency, the bandh called by ultras evoked a lukewarm response, they said.
Shops and business establishments in rural areas of the five districts downed their shutters, while the bandh had negligible impact on business and other activities in urban centres.
As a precautionary measure, the lone passenger train between Biramitrapur and Barsuan in Sundargarh district, which borders Jharkhand, was cancelled.
An alert had been issued and patrolling intensified in Maoist-affected areas in view of the bandh.
