Normal life was affected in Naxalite infested areas following a two-day economic blockade called by the Communist Party of India (Maoist) to protest against the economic policies of the Central and state governments. In Chhattisgarh, as the blockade came into force on Tuesday morning, rail and public transport services were hit in Bastar and Sarguja. The rebels halted the movement of iron ore from the state-run National Mineral Development Corporation Ltd by blowing up parts of the Kirandul-Visakhapatnam railway line on Monday. “The freezing of iron ore exports from Bailadila is likely to cause losses of up to Rs 200 crore to the NMDC,” said its Chairman B Ramesh Kumar. The Indian Railways is also likely to suffer huge losses as it restores traffic. A railways spokesperson said it could take a week to restore Bacheli-Visakhapatnam line. Fearing attacks, private transporters too have kept their vehicles off the road. In related incidents, Maoists axed to death two members of the Salwa Judum in Bijapur district on Monday night. The power supply to Bijapur district continued to be crippled after Maoists blew up transmission lines on Sunday. “We have deployed additional security forces at all sensitive locations,” said IG (Bastar) R K Vij. The Maoists were more active in Jharkhand, where they blew up railway tracks in Latehar, causing a freight train to derail. Maoists used dynamite to blast the tracks, leading to derailment of 22 wagons and the engine of a freight train between Chetar and Richuguta stations on Monday night. Another length of the track was blasted between Mangra halt and Barwadih near Latehar, a railway official added. Train services were badly affected between Gomo-Barkakana and Garwah Road and Barkakana, they said. The Maoists set afire eight dumpers at the Punjab State Electricity Board’s Panem coal project office in Pakur on Monday night. But the mining works resumed this afternoon with the police launching combing operations in the area. A report from the Central Coalfields Ltd said the movement of coal has come to a standstill due to the lack of railway rakes. “Until, we are provided with the rakes we will not be able to supply coal on Wednesday,” officials said. In Bihar, train services on various sections of the Eastern Central Railway were suspended as a precautionary measure. The blockade was near total in pockets of the southern districts where Maoists have their influence. A worried Centre is hoping that the state governments will be able to prevent things from taking a violent turn. “We are in touch with the state governments, let us hope they are able to tackle the situation,” a senior Home Ministry official said, noting that the Naxalites were targeting infrastructure like transport and transmission. What has given the ministry some satisfaction is the success in foiling at least one attempted blockade in Chattisgarh today.The run-up to the blockade has seen intelligence reports that the Naxalites were planning to become more active in areas where mega development projects like SEZs were coming up. BSNL tower targeted in OrissaMALKANGIRI (ORISSA): Maoists targeted a BSNL communication tower at Balimela in Orissa’s Malkangiri district on Tuesday after their attempt to blow up the hydel project there was foiled by the police.Superintendent of Police S K Gojbhaye said the Maoists had planned to trigger explosions at the 360 MW Balimela hydel power plant. However, they could not succeed because of heavy police deployment there.Their frustration might have led them to target the BSNL tower, the SP said.
