Maoists blow up school, rail track in Jharkhand

Maoists have blown up a high school building in Khunti district of Jharkhand on the last day of their 72-hour shutdown.

A group of armed Maoists reached the Project High School late on Monday night at Sodeh village, packed explosives before blowing up the two-storey building, Superintendent of Police A B Minz told mediapersons in Khunti on Tuesday. There was no casualty, Minz added.

The school was functioning in the old building after the Moaists had blasted the new structure in November last year.

Meanwhile, Maoists also blew up a stretch of railway track in Jharkhand's Giridih district in the wee hours of Tuesday, the third day of their 72-hour shutdown, affecting train services, the Giridih police said.

The tracks were blown up under the Nimiaghat police station in the district, Superintendent of Police Ravi Kant Dhan said.

"Trains on this section have been stopped on both up and down lines," Parasnath station Superintendent Mrutinjaya Kumar said, adding a couple of deafening explosions were heard at around 2 am.

On Monday, they blew up railway tracks in Orissa and Bihar.

The Maoists had on Sunday called a 72-hour bandh in Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh to protest the proposed all-out offensive against them by the Centre.