Maoists set ablaze dozen vehicles used for railway line construction in Jharkhand

Latehar: Maoists on Tuesday set ablaze around a dozen vehicles, including trucks and excavators, used for the construction of a railway line in Jharkhand’s Latehar district, police said.

A large number of red rebels gathered at Gunjrai village in Chandwa area, around 90 km from state capital Ranchi, and torched the vehicles at the site.

A private construction firm is engaged in laying a 195-km-long third railway line between Barkakana in Ramgarh district and Barwadih in Latehar district.

“As per the information received so far, two excavators, one generator set and some trucks have been torched by Maoists on Tuesday evening. We had ensured security at the site, despite which the incident happened. The matter will be probed,” Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Palamu range, Rajkumar Lakra told PTI.

This was the second Maoist attack on a construction site of the third railway line in the area in recent times.

Earlier on October 22, Maoists had shot at and injured three people in Kenduaatar village, around 25 km from Gunjrai, and asked railway line construction workers to refrain from work until levy was paid.