RANCHI: Impressed with the alertness shown by two gangmen and a station master after Maoists blew up rail tracks near Chaudhary Bandh railway station on Monday night, Indian Railways has decided to felicitate them in New Delhi. The lives of hundreds of passengers were saved as these three people quickly informed the authorities in Dhanbad about the blast, enabling them to halt trains on the route immediately.
"Although we already have felicitated them at our level, Railway Board Chairman Ashwani Lohani also wants to felicitate them on his own and has called them to New Delhi," said Divisional Rail Manager of Dhanbad Division, Anil Kumar Mishra. They have been provided AC 1st Class tickets and left for Delhi on Tuesday by Rajdhani Express, he added.
Mishra said the gangmen were on duty near the spot where the blasts were triggered and informed the station master immediately after the incident. The latter alerted railway officials in Dhanbad, helping them save the lives of hundreds of passengers.
"The station master immediately stopped trains running on the up and down lines on the route, and hence saved the lives of hundreds of people," said the DRM. Had been a mistake, it would have claimed several lives as at least half a dozen trains were running on the route, he added.
The DRM said rail traffic on the Dhanbad-Gaya route was restored within five hours of the blasts.
The Maoists blew up the tracks at around 10.45 pm on Monday during a 48-hour bandh called by them in six districts in Jharkhand and seven districts of Bihar against death sentences awarded to Maoists Praveer Da and Sanatan Baski for killing Pakur SP Amarjeet Balihar on September 6.
Such was the intensity of the two blasts that around two metres of tracks on both sides were damaged.
Meanwhile, in a separate incident at Kathuapani, under Kisko Police Station in Lohardaga, more than half a dozen trucks were allegedly burnt down in broad daylight. The trucks were being used in bauxite mines.