KEONJHAR/BHUBANESWAR: Around a hundred persons armed with traditional weapons attacked Sagadapata railway station today evening.
The small station, located 15 km from Harichandanpur and 60 km from Keonjhar, was damaged in the attack. About a dozen unarmed Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel and five railway staffers were man-handled by the mob. The mob snatched their VHF sets and mobile phones too.
Although it is not clear who the attackers were, police are trying to find out if Maoists were behind the incident which occurred at 9.25 pm.
The East Coast Railways, as a precautionary measure, has suspended movement of all trains till Monday 6 pm.
A part of the Daitari-Banspani section, just one passenger train takes this route while goods trains are frequent.
Sources said following reports of repeated theft of cables, the RPF carried out raids in nearby villages recently. Only a couple of days back, they recovered cables and arrested a few villagers.
The attack could have stemmed from the resentment among the villagers. Police are scanning the area.