EXPRESS TRAIN HIJACKED- ONE MORE NAXAL ATTACK

After 5 dramatic hours the Delhi bound Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express was freed from Maoist-backed tribal activists (NAXALS) who held the train hostage at a station in West Bengal's West Midnapore district on Tuesday.
Timeline of the Rajdhani crisis:
2.30 pm: Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express passes Banstala station in West Midnapore district. The train was stopped by around 500 tribals armed with bows and arrows. They took over the driver’s cabin and surrounded the train. They then took the driver to a nearby area.
4.00 pm: Security forces begin firing at the tribals.
4.30 pm: Negotiations begin between tribals and Railway officials. Tribals give food and water to the passengers in the train.
5.00 pm: Firing exchanged between the two sides.
6.00 pm: Central forces manage to reach the area and the tribals begin retreating.
7:00 pm: Security forces take full control of the train. The tribals flee into the jungles.
8.00 pm: Relieved train leaves Kharagpur with doctors onboard the train.



"The train had just crossed Jhargram station and was passing through a densely forested patch when a large mob attacked it with stones," passenger Susanta Das said.


"The mob, armed with axes, swords, bows and arrows, smashed the glass panes and forcibly opened the doors as the passengers panicked.


"All of us were asked to get down which we did. We thought they would loot us. But they did not harm anybody after we followed their orders," Das, a wildlife enthusiast who was on his way to Himachal Pradesh to join an expedition, told PTI.


Most of the passengers reportedly thought them to be dacoits. The train, which left Bhubaneswar around 0900 hrs IST, reached Kharagpur at about 1400 hrs IST. The incident occurred about half an hour later, he said.


"Initially, we also did not know that a bandh was on in the area and we also had no idea why the train stopped," Das said, adding the attackers initially appeared to be in a violent mood, but calmed down as the passengers obeyed their orders.


Another passenger Subodh Tripathy said after the train was stopped, the passengers locked themselves in. But the doors were forcibly opened by the agitators.

This is very bad new for tourist and travellers in general. Since the roads in India are more than unsafe due to the status of the street and the chaotic and suicide- like driving- style of the average Indian, now the dirty and unhygienic but up to now safe means of transport is now under questions. What remains is flying, but not all cities are reachable and other cities like Dehradun or Nashik haave only one flight per day, served by adventurous small propeller machines.
What are Naxals ? ( will come in the next post)