Naxal attack on Gaya police station

      Gaya: Two Bihar Military Police personnel were seriously injured in a Naxal attack at a police station here on Saturday night. According to police sources, some heavily-armed Naxalites of the banned outfit, CPI (Maoist), attacked Dumaria police station and hurled bombs and fired bullets indiscriminately at the police station, injuring two security personnel and burnt a police jeep. The police station was badly damaged in the attack, sources said adding that the naxalites fired more than 1,000 rounds during the attack. Both the injured have been admitted to Bhagat Medical College. Meanwhile, a search operation has been launched to nab the attackers and senior police officials are camping in the town. Maoist attacks in Bihar, particularly on police, has been an outstanding menace for quite some time now. In November last year, hundreds of heavily armed Maoists stormed Jehanabad jail, killing at least three people and freeing over 350 prisoners, including many fellow guerrillas.

    More recently, two policemen were killed and several others injured in a Maoist attack in Jharkhand. Police said the incident took place near steel city Bokaro when the rebels who came in large numbers exploded dynamite on the roof of a barrack of paramilitary Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and also opened indiscriminate fire. Analysts have warned that attacks that have stepped over the past few months were an indication that New Delhi could ill-afford to take the growing Maoist threat lightly, saying that the rebels posed a bigger danger than militancy in Jammu and Kashmiri. Maoists, who operate in at least nine of the country's 29 states, have stepped up attacks in the past year, killing dozens of people, including police. Home Ministry has said that there are about 9,300 Maoist guerrillas operating in the country. Security analysts say New Delhi ignores the seriousness of the Maoist threat in the country at its peril. Maoists were already operating in 165 of the country's 602 administrative districts and expanding their influence. Maoists often target those they consider government informers as well as landlords and local officials deemed to be corrupt.

Naxals blast Chhattisgarh railway station

     Raipur (Chhattisgarh): Armed Naxalites in Dantewada district of Chhatisgarh today triggered a blast at the railway station, damaging a railway engine and some parts of the station. The police sources said that, besides, the Naxalites abducted few of the railway officials in an apparent attempt to stop export of iron ore from Bailadila. However, no one was injured and Naxalites later on released the railway officials with a warning, sources added. Nearly 50 armed Naxalites came to Bhansi railway station in Dantewada district in early morning, about 500-km from here and took the railway staff present there as hostage. They also planted a landmine on the main building, which however, failed to detonate. Before exploding the electric engine, the Naxalites took away two wireless sets and also took the driver of the engine waiting at the platform as hostage. Due to the impact of the blast, the engine was badly damaged and the railway platform was also damaged. The Naxalites also took away six of the railway officials as hostage with them for about half a kilometer but released them with a warning of not to transport iron ore from the station or face the consequences, police said. Bhansi railway station located between National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) iron ore mines at Kirandul and Waltior railway station was targeted to stop the export of iron ore from Bailadila to foreign nations.

Grenade blast in Pulwama injures more than dozen

     Srinagar: More than a dozen people, including two security personnel, were seriously injured in a grenade blast in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Sunday. A grenade was hurled at a convoy of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), 35 kilometres from Pulwama, during a rally organised by the local taxi drivers of the town. "There was a rally of taxi operators going on due to which there was a big traffic jam on the road. A CRPF convoy also reached there and it was then that a grenade was thrown, probably at the CRPF personnel," said Mushtaq Ahmed, an eyewitness. The injured were immediately evacuated to Srinagar for medical attention. No militant outfit has claimed responsibility for the attack. Violence continues in the area, but at a reduced level, despite an Indo-Pak peace process launched two years ago. Kashmir is claimed by India and Pakistan and has been the cause of three wars and one conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours. New Delhi continues to blame Pakistan for abetting the Kashmir militancy, a charge denied by Islamabad.

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