India - two day statewide bandh called by Maoists

The first day of the two-day Statewide bandh called by Maoist, evoked mixed response in the coal city Bermo and mica town Giridih and also passed off peacefully on Monday. Even though the Bokaro and Giridih districts administration and the police made elaborate arrangement, the NH-2 remained deserted. However, the situation within the all blocks of Bermo and Giridih were normal. Courts, offices, Government schools and daily business continued as per schedule. State Bank of India, Bank of India, Bokaro Thermal and Kathara branches remained closed, fearing untoward incidents.

Shops remained closed on the outskirts of the Maoist affected blocks Nawadih, Gomia and Peterwar in Bokaro while marketing establishment of Pirtard, Bagodar, Dewari,Isari, Gawa, Bangabad, Muffasil and Dumari in Giridih did not opened.
 coal transportation was also affected in Bermo and Giridih. However bandh remained peaceful.




Ranchi/Jamshedpur/Bokaro/Gumla: The first day of the 48-hour Maoist bandh  had a partial impact on rural areas of the state. The bandh called by the CPI (Maoist) Bihar state committee resulted in the postponement of the matriculation and intermediate examinations, conducted by Jharkhand Academic Council (JAC), scheduled for February 16. The matriculation examination will now begin on March 2 while the intermediate exam will start on March 3. JAC chairman Arvind Prasad Singh said, “Keeping in view the bandh called by Maoists, we have decided to postpone the exams to ensure students do not face any difficulty commuting. Although dates have been postponed, the timetable remains the same.”

In Bokaro, most business establishments in Gomia, Nawadih, Bermo and other areas remained close throughout. Commercial vehicles also remained off the roads, including long-distance buses. The bandh also disrupted transportation of coal, said sources. The police increased security in sensitive places, especially areas bordering West Bengal, Giridih and Hazaribagh. Bokaro SP Y S Ramesh said no untoward incidents were reported. In the Steel City, police stepped up security on NH-33 to ensure smooth traffic. “A section of long-distance buses remained off the road as passenger turnout was relatively low,” said a functionary of the Private Long Distance Bus Owners Association. No trains were cancelled along the Chakradharpur rail division

in Kolhan
Jamshedpur, Feb 15: The first day of the 48-hour Jharkhand bandh called by the outlawed CPI-Maoist evoked a lukewarm response in the Kolhan region. Barring few places under Ghatshila sub-division, where public transport remained off the road, the Naxal-sponsored bandh failed to have much impact. Ghatshila SDO Sanjay Kumar Besra said the bandh has been peaceful as there were strict vigil at all important places. Life in Ghatshila Township was quite normal, but few places in the interiors of Ghatshila division observed bandh.
“The bandh call had some impact in areas like Karadoba, Hurlung and Narshingpur, which are closed to the Bengal border and parts of Ghurabandha block, but life in rest of Ghatshila sub-division was by and large normal. Vehicular traffic on the NH-33 on the stretch of Ghatshila sub-division was also partially affected,” said Besra. In the West Singhbhum and Seraikela-Kharsawan districts, the bandh was peaceful. Industrial units as well as the educational institutions, including schools ran as usual and the marketplaces were also open like any other normal day.
However, long distance buses, both government and private, from Sitaramdera bus terminus did not ply today. Owners of the Jamshedpur Bus Owners’ Association, Upendra Sharma said that 80 percent long distance buses plying in the Bihar routes via Ranchi did not ply today. The long route private buses plying on the two ends of the NH-33, Tata-Ranchi and Tata-West Bengal have felt the pinch with few of the buses staying off the roads nonetheless, the government buses heading for different destinations to Bihar in particular are running in full strength. In the East Singhbhum, the mobility of the security forces including CRPF personnel was paced up on the National Highway-33 stretching from Ghatshila to Chandil.
“The district administration has deputed 17 magistrates across strategic locations of the district to oversee the security affairs in the wake of Maoists bandh,” informed a senior official. “We have made elaborate arrangement to ensure that the bandh call given by the rebels make no impact. Barring few localities in Ghatshila subdivision, the call has failed to make any impact,” he added. The entire stretch of the National Highway (33) i.e. between Chandil at the one end to Bahragora on the other end was occupied with the police and paramilitary personnel at strategic points. “Not only on the NH but even in the town and village areas we have deployed security forces of adequate strength and mobility of the police has paced up,” said a police official. Gurabandha, Dumari, Potka, Bodam, and Patamda, which are considered as Naxalite dens in the district, received the utmost focus with police and paramilitary jointly embarking on the mobile duty with the break of the dawn.
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…Besides, train movement between Kiul and Jamalpur remained completely paralysed for at least five hours from Sunday midnight to 5am on Monday following kidnapping of two signalmen, allegedly by Maoists, from Urain railway station, 12km west of Kiul junction on the Kiul-Jamalpur section of East Central Railways (ECR). Superintendent Railway Police (SRP), Jamalpur, Umashankar Prasad confirmed it and said, “The railway staff were released after some time with a warning that no train should be allowed to run on this line (Kiul-Jamalpur section) until sunrise, or else be ready to face the consequences.”
The Maoists have owned up the incident, said a CRPF official. The Jamalpur SRP said trains were allowed to proceed on their onward journey after ensuring the safety of commuters as well as railway staff. Meanwhile, rebels detonated a series of low-intensity IEDs near Kala Pahari in Aurangabad district on Sunday around midnight. After the incident, a joint operation by the security forces of Bihar and Jharkhand has been launched in the area.