NEWS FILE

Maoists blow up railway station, tracks, utility structures in J’khand

RANCHI, November 29 (PTI): Maoists began their two-day statewide shutdown on Sunday by blasting a small railway station, tracks and utility buildings at various places in Jharkhand. Armed Maoists planted explosives and triggered the blast, damaging the one-room building of Mahubuang railway station in Simdega and railway tracks in the wee hours, V Deshmukh, Inspector General of Police told PTI. Forces have reached the spot and repair work is going on, he added. The ultra-left activists also blew up another stretch of railway track between Jageswar and Dania in Bokaro district late last night, he said adding that under the impact of the blast, electricity was also snapped near the tracks. However, there was no report of any casualty in the series of incidents. The blasts disrupted several trains on that route, according to railway sources. In Palamau, the Maoists blew up a panchayat hall and a school building at Pipra village hours before the bandh started at midnight, police said. The proscribed outfit has called for the bandh to demand production of its South Chhotanagpur Zonal Committee leader Ashok Mahto in a court, a claim the Jharkhand police denied.
 
Call for effective legislation to combat human trafficking

New Delhi, November 29 (PTI): Identifying human trafficking as one of the gravest violations of human rights in any society, a top IPS officer has said the response by various agencies including the police has not been appropriate and adequate and many a times has been “retrogressive” and “violative”. P M Nair, a 1978 batch IPS officer from the Bihar Cadre in his latest book “Human Trafficking ? Dimensions, Challenges and Responses” has said poor response system, victimisation of the victims and lack of coordination between various agencies are some of the roadblocks in tackling the menace. Nair, currently serving the CRPF as an Inspector General of Police in charge of the operations, has also stressed on the need to have an “effective, comprehensive and holistic legislation” to address the issue of the human trafficking.

Omar holds public meeting in militant hub

Bafliaz (Poonch), November 29 (PTI): Undeterred by the presence of over 100 militants in Poonch district’s Bafliaz mountainous belt, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah addressed a public meeting in the terror hub after sunset winning hearts of locals. “He is probably the first politician to stand on the Bafliaz soil at 8 P.M. No politician has dared to venture out here after sunset,” local leader Amtiyaz Malik told PTI. “We never thought he (Omar) will make it to Bafliaz. He is the bravest of the brave. He has definitely risked his life,” Gulshan Bi, who attended the public meeting on Friday, said. “It is a place worst-hit by militancy. Several incidents take place every week in the region,” a police officer said. “Over 100 militants of LeT, Hizbul Mujahideen, JeM and HUJI are still operating in the Bafliaz-Surankote area,” he said.

Chandrasekhar detained ahead of proposed fast unto death

Hyderabad, November 29 (Agencies): Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) president K Chandrasekhar Rao was taken into custody by police near Karimnagar in Andhra Pradesh today while he was on his way to Siddipet to start a fast unto death for separate Telangana. Rao was detained at Alaganoor in the outskirts of Karimnagar as he started for Siddipet, where he proposed to undertake the fast, along with his son and legislator K T Rama Rao and other party leaders. The TRS president and other leaders squatted on the road after his convoy was stopped and police took them into custody amid loud protests by party workers. Expressing anger over Rao’s detention, the TRS has called for a bandh in Telangana tomorrow. “This is undemocratic. Our party president wanted to undertake a fast but police detained him. We have appealed to the people to observe bandh in Telanagana tomorrow,” TRS Floor Leader in the Assembly E Rajender told reporters at Karimnagar. Meanwhile, Rao’s nephew and senior TRS MLA T Harish Rao and other leaders began a fast unto death at Siddipet even after detention of the party president.