Patna, April 6: Passengers on the 15204 Lucknow-Barauni Express had a close shave this morning while passing a track damaged by suspected Maoists between Hajipur and Sarai railway stations of East Central Railway (ECR).

The track under Sonepur railway division was blown up near Ekara railway crossing, around 27km north of Patna, during the 48-hour bandh called by Maoists to protest the killing of their 10 cadres, including a few leaders, in Jharkhand’s Chatra district by members of Tritiya Prastuti Committee, a breakaway faction of the rebels, on March 28.

ECR chief public relations officer Amitabh Prabhakhar said: “The driver averted the accident by slowing down the train’s speed noticing a gap in the track around 5km away from Hajipur station. He contacted the guard on duty and managed to cross the damaged track at a low speed.”

At least 10 trains, including Awadh-Assam Express (Down), Sabarmati Express, Amrapali Express, Lichchavi Express, Maurya Express, Saptkranti Express, Gwalior-Barauni Express, remained stranded at different stations for several hours. He said the blast damaged a sleeper and 10 pandrol clips.

Vaishali superintendent of police Suresh Prasad Choudhary said prima facie, it appeared to be a handiwork of the rebels.

However, the Maoists have not claimed responsibility for the attack.

In another incident, suspected rebels torched a truck at Reva Ghat under Saraiya police station in Muzaffarpur district. However, there was no casualty. The rebels forced Turki market near Minapur to close down to vent their ire against their cadres’ killing.

Additional director-general (headquarters) Ravinder Kumar said precautionary measures would be taken to prevent any untoward incident during the bandh.