A day before the second phase of elections, naxal terror hit again.
About 700 passengers were at their mercy for over 4 hours in the train that the Maoists took over on Wednesday morning, during which the administration both in Delhi and the state did nothing.
"We were scared at one point of time, that we didn't know whether we will come out alive," a passenger recalls.
Eventually, the naxals let the train go having made their point, that despite the security for elections, they can strike anywhere.
Other attacks on Wednesday were deadlier. Palamu station in Jharkhand was blown up with a bomb, as was a local government centre in Aurangabad in Bihar. Trucks were set ablaze in Gaya on the Grand-Trunk Road, killing one driver and blowing up two polling stations in Motihari in Bihar.
However, despite mayhem, despite the intelligence warnings, the centre says, everything is normal.
"There is nothing new about the Naxal attacks. They don't believe in the election process. There have been some unfortunate incidents but there is no need spread panic. They struck before the first phase but they haven't achieved - people came out and voted," said Madhukar Gupta, Union Home Secretary.
Indeed there is nothing new, because the Maoist had declared their intentions to carry out strikes long before and had even declared a bandh in Jharkhand on Wednesday. And yet, security forces haven't been able to counter them.
