Maoist “Bandh”
Forbes – Been watching this closely, not mentioned in this article is that railway lines have also been cut –
Maoist rebels in east India have torched a railway station and kidnapped rail staff, police said today, as a blockade aimed to stop government plans to establish special economic zones entered a second day, its cost hitting an estimated at 1.1 bln rupees.
The strike in the impoverished states of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Bihar has cost the state some 600 mln rupees, or 15 mln usd, officials said. It has crippled transportation and brought iron and coal mining in the mineral-rich state to a halt.
Shops and commercial establishments kept their shutters down, causing estimated losses of about 500 mln rupees, Agence France-Presse reported. Schools and colleges were closed and government offices registered low attendance, the agency said.
Sidenote: Anyone else find it interesting that Maoists have evolved well beyond the Maoist model of warfare?
-Shlok
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