Ranchi, May 18 (Inditop.com) Several important trains were cancelled or diverted and road services hit Tuesday as Maoist guerrillas began a 48-hour shutdown to protest the government offensive against them.
“We have cancelled eight trains and diverted the routes of nine trains,” a railway official said. Amongst the trains cancelled is the Palamau Express; those diverted include the Howrah and Jabalpur Shaktipunj Express as well as the Ranchi and Varanasi Intercity Express.
Road services have also been hit with no long route buses plying, and highways were deserted. Mining operations have been affected.
The Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) has called the strike in five states — Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal — to protest Operation Green Hunt against them and the arrest of their leader Soma Mardi in West Bengal who they say has yet to be produced in court.
The shutdown comes a day after 35 people were killed in a landmine blast in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district.
