Naxals hijack train, 200 passengers ahead of LS polls

Hundreds of Maoist rebels captured a passenger train with about 200 people on board in Jharkhand on Wednesday, police said. According to the sources, a rebel on the train pulled the emergency cord, forcing it to stop in a remote area in Ehegara district. The passenger train was heading towards Mugalsarai from Barcakaana. No casuality has been reported so far.Officials said police had rushed to the area. Maoist rebels are targeting the government machinery ahead in an attempt to disrupt second phase of LS polls. Maoist rebels, who claim to fight for peasants and landless labourers, have stepped up attacks in recent days opposing general elections in the area. They launched several attacks in different areas on April 16 disrupting first phase of LS polls.The rebels, with strong links to Maoist guerrillas just to the north in Nepal, are becoming increasingly active and some analysts say they pose a bigger problem for the central government in Delhi than the separatist rebellion in Kashmir. The government estimates there are about 9,300 Maoist rebels operating in the country in what is known as the `Red Corridor`, stretching from the Nepal border in the north through several states to south India.