IANS reported that East Coast Railway has urged the Chhattisgarh police to provide increased security to the rail tracks and trains passing through the Maoist- dominated areas of the state.

A source at the police headquarters said that "The ECR is highly concerned about rising cases of damage to rail tracks on Kottavalasa-Kirandul line under Waltair division and has sought Chhattisgarh police's help to ensure disruption-free train movement. We share their concern.”

The source said that Mr AK Vohra GM of ECR had raised the rail security issue.

The source further said that "We discussed the issue in detail. We will act to ensure safety of tracks as well as trains in the stretches vulnerable to Maoist attacks.”

The K-K line originates from Kirandul in Dantewada district which last month witnessed the killing of 76 central reserve police force men by the Maoists.

The railway line is critical to the steel industry. The country's largest iron ore miner in the public sector, NMDC, relies on it to transport iron ore from its Kirandul and Bacheli mines in Dantewada district to Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.

In the latest incident of damage to tracks on the K-K line on April 20, Maoists had removed clips from the rail tracks that led to derailment of 17 wagons of a goods train loaded with some 4,000 tonnes of NMDC's iron ore.

(Sourced from IANS)