A lone passenger waits for a bus at Sitaramdera bus terminus nearJamshedpur on Sunday. (Srinivas)

Ranchi/ Jamshedpur, March 13: The two-day Maoist sponsored bandh, to protest against the killing of rebel leader Shashdhar Mahto, passed off peacefully in the state capital today, with no incidents of violence being reported till late in the evening.

The bandh, which came into effect from midnight, however, hit the road transport system, with a majority of inter and intrastate buses staying off the roads.

“Around eight companies of joint forces, including four companies of CRPF, three companies of Jharkhand Armed Police and one company of district armed police were deployed, had been deployed at all strategic across the city,” said Ranchi senior superintendent of police (SSP) Praveen Kumar.

Joint force personnel also patrolled rebel-hit stretches on the outskirts of the city, with proper escorts being provided to all vehicles plying on vulnerable stretches.

Railway services also remained unaffected, with no reports of diversions or cancellations.

“No trains have been diverted or cancelled. We do not have reports of any disturbances on the tracks,” said S.C. Banerjee, spokesperson of Ranchi railway division.

Meanwhile, the red bandh evoked mixed responses in Ghatshila sub-division, with shops and other business establishments remaining shut.

While the Ghatshila-Jamshedpur-Chandil stretch of NH-33 wore a deserted look with very few commercial vehicles daring to defy the Maoist diktat, industrial units in adjoining Seraikela-Kharsawan district operated with skeletal staff. Most of the long distance buses stayed off the road in Jamshedpur.

Though the bandh had little or no impact in West Singbhum’s Chaibasa and Chakradharpur, places like Goelkera, Sonua and Bandhgaon took a hit.

“Adequate number of police and para-military forces have been deployed at strategic locations to prevent any untoward incidents. Long range patrolling has been conducted on certain pockets in Ghatshila and patamda regions,” said East Singhbhum SSP Akhilesh Kumar Jha.

He added that the bandh had been peaceful and there were no reports of violence from any part of the state.

Superintendent of railway police (Tatanagar) K.B. Singh confirmed that train services remained unaffected, with no disturbances on the tracks.