Police say suspected communist rebels free train passengers in India, ahead of crucial polls

August 12th, 2009 KOLKATA - Security forces opened fire at suspected Maoist rebels in West Bengal's troubled Lalgarh Wednesday afternoon and the gunbattle continued for over an hour in the forested area, police said. "Yes, there was an incident of heavy firing between the joint security forces and the Maoist rebels in Bhulabheda forest area of West Midnapore district today," Kuldeep Singh, state Inspector General (Western Range) of Police, told IANS.

June 23rd, 2009 5 of those killed in DC metro crash identifiedWASHINGTON — Officials are identifying five of the victims killed in a subway train crash in Washington, D.C. Metro officials said at a special board meeting Tuesday that four passengers ranging in age from 23 to 64 were killed when a train barreling down the tracks hit a stopped train a day earlier.

June 1st, 2009 RANCHI - Three people were injured while trying to fight robbers who looted cash and other valuables worth Rs.200,000 from train passengers in Jharkhand, police said Monday. Around 10 robbers raided a sleeper coach of a passenger train between Telo and Chandrapura railway stations Sunday night.

May 9th, 2009 MARC train strikes car outside Washington, D.C.ROCKVILLE, Md. — Police outside Washington, D.C., say a woman is expected to recover after a commuter train hit her car at a railroad crossing.

April 29th, 2009 6 killed in train crash in southern IndiaNEW DELHI — Two men seized the controls of a passenger train in southern India and rammed it into another train Wednesday, killing themselves and four passengers, news reports said. Another 11 people were injured when the men, who were not authorized to operate the electric train, drove it into a goods train at Vyasarpadi Jeeva station on the outskirts of Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu state, Press Trust of India news agency reported, quoting railway officials.

April 23rd, 2009 Indians vote amid threats by suspected rebelsPATNA, India — Indians voted Thursday in the second round of the country's monthlong national election that will likely see a weak government take power during a time of economic uncertainty and political violence. Government forces were on high alert as thousands of people crowded polling stations early in the day to avoid blazing summertime temperatures touching 111 degrees Fahrenheit (44 Celsius) in parts of the eastern states of Orissa, Jharkhand and Bihar.

April 22nd, 2009 RANCHI - Around 200 Maoist rebels hijacked a train carrying over 400 passengers in Jharkhand's Latehar district Wednesday, a day ahead of the second phase of Lok Sabha polls, police said. Security forces scrambled for helicopters to survey the stranded train, prior to mounting a rescue operation.

April 22nd, 2009 PATNA - Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Yadav and NDA leader and Bihar's Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi were engaged in a war of words on Wednesday, hours after Naxals struck in four places in Bihar and Jharkhand a day before the second phase of general elections. "These attacks show that there is anarchy in all four quarters of Bihar.

April 22nd, 2009 RANCHI - Maoist rebels released a train carrying over 400 passengers over four hours after they hijacked it in Jharkhand's Latehar district Wednesday, officials said. The incident was part of a spree of Maoist violence a day ahead of the second phase of Lok Sabha polls in the state.

April 22nd, 2009 RANCHI/PATNA/KOLKATA - Maoist insurgents went on the rampage in the eastern states of Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal Wednesday, hijacking a train, blowing up buildings, setting trucks on fire, killing a truck driver and triggering landmine blasts. Around 200 Maoist rebels hijacked a train carrying over 400 passengers at Hehegada railway station in Jharkhand's Latehar district.

April 22nd, 2009 Suspected rebels free train in India before votePATNA, India — Suspected communist rebels freed nearly 300 train passengers unharmed after keeping them hostage for almost five hours at a railway station in eastern India on Wednesday, a day before the second phase of national elections that the guerrillas have vowed to disrupt. After releasing the passengers, the nearly 250 suspected rebels who stopped the train left without a confrontation with security forces, said senior police official Hemant Toppo.

April 22nd, 2009 Suspected rebels hijack train in India before votePATNA, India — Communist rebels hijacked a train and briefly held 300 passengers before melting away into surrounding forests in one of a series of attacks in India that threatened to mar elections Thursday in the world's largest democracy. Much of the violence was focused Wednesday in eastern and central India where communist guerillas have fought for decades for the rights of the poor, but tensions remained high in other regions as the elections exposed ethnic, religious and caste divides in this massive nation of some 1.2 billion people.

April 22nd, 2009 Suspected rebels stop train in India before votePATNA, India — Police say nearly 250 suspected Maoist rebels have stopped a train with hundreds of passengers aboard in eastern India, a day ahead of parliamentary polling that the guerrillas have vowed to disrupt. Hemant Toppo, superintendent of police, says police reinforcements are being rushed to the forested area in eastern Jharkhand state.

April 10th, 2009 RANCHI - Maoist rebels in Jharkhand continued their terror track ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, blasting the 11th government building in the state Friday in 10 days, the police said. Maoist rebels belonging to the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), blew up a secondary school near Belhara village in Palamau district, around 180 km from Ranchi, using detonators.

April 2nd, 2009 RANCHI - Maoist guerrillas blew up a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader's house, a school building and a healthcare centre in Jharkhand's Chatra district, the police said Thursday. About 50 rebels of the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) barged into BJP leader Mahendra Yadav's house and asked his family members to run out.