Maoists burn 6 vehicles, abduct two

Maoists abducted two persons and burnt six vehicles, including four buses, in Bastar region on the first day of their two-day Chhattisgarh bandh.

They stopped four buses and two trucks near Birla village in Dantewada and set them on fire, sources said. Two of these were state buses and two were from Andhra Pradesh. The Maoists made the passengers get down before setting the vehicles on fire saying they had “violated” the bandh call.

The Maoists had attacked several installations, including the NMDC and Essar Steel’s iron ore plants in Dantewada yesterday to disrupt work and ore transportation from Bailadila area of the district, during the bandh. They also removed the joints of a railway track, causing derailment of a goods train.