Trains burnt by Bihar mobs

Several coaches of three trains were burnt down and the safety of rail passengers severely threatened in Bihar on Monday as angry mobs led violent attacks on railway property at two stations in protest against a decision by railway officials to withdraw some halts from the route of a number of trains. These halts were reportedly ordered during the tenure of Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav as railway minister.

Angry villagers set ablaze coaches of three trains at two railway stations near Patna, the state capital, and also uprooted tracks at a number of places. At least 30 people were injured, but none of them were train passengers. The railway police and security forces tried to prevent the vandalism, which disrupted rail traffic throughout the region for hours by halting at least 10 trains.

The immediate provocation which led to the mob fury was an announcement by the East Central Railway in some newspapers that several express trains, including the Rajgir-New Delhi Shramajeevi Express and the Kosi Express, would no longer halt at Khusropur station and some other places.

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Lalu warns Mumbai: Stop, or I’ll halt trains

In a veiled threat to the Maharashtra government over continuing violence against North Indians in Mumbai, railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav on Wednesday virtually “threatened” to seriously consider stopping train services in parts of the state.

“The railways are a soft target for any kind of protesters as it easy to attack our property. It is the responsibility of the state government to protect rail assets. We will seriously consider blocking services to violence-affected parts of Maharashtra if the violence continues,” he said.

Railway ministry sources said train services were halted in parts of Bihar too following widespread attacks on railway property recently, but political watchers said Mr Yadav’s remarks were a “clear warning” to Maharashtra.

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Police hunts in Bengal, Uttar Pradesh for Delhi suspects

Half a dozen Delhi police teams fanned out to eastern Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal to hunt for the two motorcycle-borne men suspected to be behind Saturday afternoon’s blast at Mehrauli.

Investigators are, meanwhile, keeping close watch on a youth being treated at AIIMS’ trauma centre on the suspicion that he could be one of those who had planted the bomb. No evidence on this has, however, been found.

The injured person, Allauddin, from Gaya in Bihar, had two driving licenses. His brother Shabuddin told the police he was working for a Gurgaon call centre, and his boss there had got him a second driving licence from Nagaland. The reason he was carrying a lot of money was because he had gone to open an account at the State Bank of India on the day of the blast, his family explained.

Five Bangladeshi nationals are among those being questioned, and the police has not ruled out the possible involvement of illegal Bangladeshi migrants.

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Mother of tragedies: Kids sold for Rs 200

Desperate mothers in the flood-hit districts of Bihar are selling their children en masse to traffickers. Ram Dev Prasad, heading Bihar’s Child Labour Commission, pointed out that children in the districts of Supaul, Araria, Saharsa and Purnea were being sold for Rs 200 per child.

At present, nearly two lakh women and children are living cheek-by-jowl in 3,000 relief camps being run by the state government and NGOs. Most of the able-bodied men have migrated in search of jobs, leaving these women vulnerable to smooth-talking traffickers who promise their children will be provided a better life in the larger cities.

Just last week, 1,500 children being smuggled out of Bihar by human traffickers were caught at the railway stations of Patna, Hajipur and Khagaria. “While the older children were taken back to the relief camps, there were some kids who were so young that they could not recall the names of their parents or the village to which they belonged,” Mr Prasad pointed out.

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