Railway workers fix tracks that were blown up near Karmabad halt in Giridih district early on Monday. Picture by Shahnawaz Akhtar

Sept. 13: The 48-hour bandh called by CPI(Maoist) across seven states hit rail services in Jharkhand in a major way today, even as long-distance buses stayed off the roads and shops and business establishments remained shut in rebel strongholds.

Rebels blew up a portion of the tracks near Karmabad halt between Parasnath and Hazaribagh Road railway stations in Dhanbad division at 2.30am today. The blast was so severe that it threw the main line off track by three metres and derailed two coaches of a goods train.

A number of trains including the down Jodhpur Express, Howrah Rajdhani Express, Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express, Sealdah Rajdhani Express, Ganga Sutlej Express, Ganga Damodar Express and Doon Express were delayed as a result of the blast. Similarly, the up Doon Express, Bombay Mail and Jodhpur Express were also delayed.

“The blast left a 2.5 feet-deep crater at the spot,” said senior public relation officer of East Central Railway’s Dhanbad division Amrendra Das.

In the wake of the bandh, railway authorities rescheduled two trains — Ranchi-Varanasi Intercity and Hatia-New Delhi Garib Rath — originating from the state capital. Spokesperson of Ranchi railway division S.C. Banerjee said barring the two, no other trains were rescheduled, cancelled or diverted in the Ranchi division.

Train services were also partially affected in Kolhan region. While the Tata-Badampahar Passenger was cancelled, several trains were running late. In Jamshedpur, the Railway Protection Force pressed sniffer dogs into service on the tracks and also in trains to detect possible explosives.

Long-distance buses remained off the roads in Ranchi and its adjoining districts today. Commercial vehicles stayed off the roads in Kolhan region as well as NH-33 wore a deserted look.

Markets on the outskirts of the state capital remained closed, as CRPF and JAP personnel kept vigil along NH-33. Arrangements were made to escort passenger vehicles along stretches of the highway that cut through rebel strongholds of Bundu and Tamar.

Though no untoward incidents were reported from anywhere in East and West Singhbhum and Seraikela-Kharsawan, the bandh paralysed most rural areas of the region.

Shops and business establishments remained shut in Ghatshila sub-division of East Singhbhum district since morning. Banks and ATMs were also closed. In Naxalite-infested Patamda, the bandh evoked a complete response. Work in brick-kilns, stone crusher units and small-scale industrial units came to a halt.

At Chandil-Chowka, the bandh was equally spontaneous. The bandh was near total in Chaibasa, Chakradharpur, Sonua and Goelkera.

The bandh took a toll on vegetable prices in the steel city. As consignments could not reach the city from Patamda and Chandil, prices of green vegetables soared.

The bandh evoked little response in Bokaro steel city, Chas, Chandrapura and Phusro. However, loading and unloading of coal was affected in CCL and BCCL mines.