Maoist rebels seize Indian passenger train: police

RANCHI, India (Reuters) – Hundreds of Maoist rebels
captured a passenger train with about 200 people on board in
eastern India on Monday, police said.

A rebel on the train pulled the emergency cord, forcing it
to stop in a remote and hilly area in Latehar district, 160 km
(100 miles) west of Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand state, a
mineral-rich but largely lawless area.

“It is not known whether the passengers are safe or have
been robbed,” Subodh Kumar, the most senior police officer in
Latehar said.

Officials said police had rushed to the area. Maoist rebels
had called a strike in the region on Monday to protest the
killing of one of their commanders by police last week.

Maoist rebels, who claim to fight for peasants and landless
labourers, have stepped up attacks on police and government
supporters in eastern India in recent months.

They killed more than 50 pro-government tribespeople in a
land mine attack in neighboring Chhattisgarh state this month.

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.