Jamshedpur, Oct. 11: A group of Maoists struck at the Mahadevsaal railway station in West Singhbhum late last night, assaulting its assistant station master and disrupting train services on the Rourkela-Chakradharpur section.

The rebels, numbering 12, dragged Y.C. Sawaiya out of his cabin along with a porter who happened to be with him and beat him up with iron rods. The official is now undergoing treatment at a hospital in the railway’s zonal headquarters of Chakradharpur with serious head injuries.

The police claim to have launched a massive search operation in the nearby areas of Mahadevsaal, which draws pilgrims to its well-known Shiva temple throughout the year.

Among the areas under their scanner are the red bastions of Goelkera and Manoharpur.

The police were still probing the reasons behind yesterday’s attack that came at a time when a large number of Maoists were said to have assembled in the Saranda forests.

Sudhir Kumar Jha, the superintendent of police of West Singhbhum, said it may be linked to the mid week arrest of one Junus Kandulna, a sibling of a Naxalite in Goelkera. “With this as a possible reason, the Maoists may have wanted to make their presence felt in the region,” he said.

Also, villagers residing in Manoharpur, Goelkera and Mahadevsaal had told the police the attack could be a fallout of a few local railway officials’ refusal to help Maoists in illegal transportation of forest wood.

“Villagers have told us that some Naxalites could have been involved in illegal trade of wood. Sometimes they take undue advantage of railway staff,” he added.

According to Jha, Mahadevsaal is a small station with a few railway officials all of whom worked out of a small cabin.

“A profusely bleeding Sawaiya walked to the nearby Goelkera station when a police patrol party spotted him. The police then rushed him to the hospital in Chakradharpur,” Jha said.

The Naxalites left the spot when they saw a train approaching the station. However, no train passed the station after the attack, a railway source confirmed. The Amravati-Tata Passenger had just crossed the junction minutes before the incident, while the Howrah-Kurla Express remained stranded at the Chakradharpur junction.

Services were also affected on the Rourkela-Chakradharpur line yesterday. While Howrah-Mumbai Express remained stranded at Tatanagar railway station, Pune-Howrah Azad Hind Express was halted at Jeraikela junction. The Koraput-Howrah Express did not leave Rourkela station too. Normal services resumed early this morning.

Maoist leader in net

Rajendra Singh Kharwar, a self-styled Naxalite zonal commander, was arrested from a village in Garhwa yesterday. A huge amount of explosives, apart from three rifles and three guns, were recovered from him. Garhwa superintendent of police Saket Kumar Singh said Rajendra was wanted in several cases of murder and rebel attacks in the area.

He was arrested from Udaypur village under Ranka block in Garhwa.