Oct. 12: National Highway 2, the artery connecting Calcutta and Delhi, became an unexpected victim of Maoist might on the first day of the 48-hour bandh called by the banned outfit to protest against the Centre’s plan of a major offensive against extremists.

Deputy inspector-general of police R.K. Mallick said having made their presence felt along NH-33 that links Ranchi to Jamshedpur several times, the rebels tried to prove a point by targeting a vital national highway that passes through Barhi in Jharkhand.

Soon after the bandh was enforced yesterday midnight, armed squads swooped on a passenger bus bound for Calcutta from Gaya near Topchanchi on NH-2 — also known as GT Road — in Dhanbad. Three passengers were injured in indiscriminate firing. The rebels later torched a truck at the same place.

Impact of the bandh was also felt in Bokaro and Giridih where railway tracks and a bridge were blown up. Four trucks were also set on fire in Giridih, close to GT Road.

More than a hundred armed Maoists targeted the trucks at Isri Bazar, 45km from Giridih district headquarters, at 12.20am. They also blew up a bridge connecting Dumri with GT Road, said Giridih SP Ravikant Dhaan.

A few hours later, another rebel group blew up railway tracks between Jarangdih and Bokaro Thermal in Dhanbad division. The impact created a 4ft deep crater at the spot that derailed an engine at 4am, stalling rail traffic on the route for nearly 10 hours.

Besides such sporadic incidents of violence, transportation of coal and bauxite and movement of short and long-distance buses came to a grinding halt across the state. Rural areas witnessed a total bandh while the effect was partial at urban centres.

At CCL mines, transportation of coal remained affected while production dropped by 40 per cent. The production schedule of Tata Motors Limited in Jamshedpur was also badly hit as a consignment of spare parts failed to reach the steel city because of the bandh. Other units at Adityapur industrial area also faced scarcity of raw materials.