Railway Protection Force jawans on vigil at Tatanagar railway station. File picture

Jamshedpur, Aug. 29: The railway police have been put on high alert in Chakradharpur division following last night’s incident in which rebels obstructed the movement of trains at Urma station in neighbouring Adra section of Bengal.

The incident had also affected movement of trains for about two hours in Chakradharpur section late in the night. While Tatanagar-Patna South Bihar Express and Howrah-Ranchi Inter City Express had to be detained at Chandil, Tatanagar-Chapra Express left for its destination about two hours behind schedule.

According to sources, a group of seven rebels planted red flags on tracks and attacked the Urma station master, who escaped with minor injuries. They rebels have also threatened the railways not to run trains in Adra section tomorrow as they have called a daylong bandh to protest against the killing of Umakant Mahato, one the prime accused of the Jnaeshwari sabotage case on Wednesday.

Though tomorrow’s rebel strike is meant for Adra section only, officials in Chakradharpur division are not taking any chances. An alert has been sounded by railway police to RPF and GRP pickets at all railway stations falling under the vulnerable section of Chakradharpur division.

“We have beefed up security related logistics in railway stations that are vulnerable to rebel attacks. Moreover, the escorts provided on passenger trains have been asked to be extra vigilant,” said K.V. Singh, the superintendent of railway police, Tatanagar.

The railways also decided to make certain changes in the movement of trains that pass through the Adra division. The departure time of Durg-Danapur Express have been revised. The train that leaves Tatanagar at 7pm will now depart from the station at 4am tomorrow. Moreover, the Tata-Chapra Express that usually leaves Tatanagar at 9.45pm will run at a re-schedule time — 4.30am tomorrow.

Officials of railway’s commercial section confirmed the changes in the train timing. “The changes have been made due to security concerns,” said an official.

Though an official circular from Garden Reach was yet to reach here, railway authorities said that the ban on movement of night trains between Kharagpur-Rourkela and Kharagpur-Adra sections was extended for another five days. Earlier, the ban on night trains was enforced till August 30.