New Delhi, October 28
Even as the government is weighing various options of tackling the Naxal menace, emotionally charged passengers of the Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express today sought immediate action on the lawless brigands.

The exhausted passengers were on board the Rajdhani, which was detained by Maoists yesterday. They arrived at the New Delhi railway station at 7.20 pm today, some eight hours behind schedule.

The station was swarming with policemen as the train, painted with pro-maoist slogans, rolled into platform No 1. Doctors were on stand-by while hundred of mediapersons were present to capture the moments when families reunited.

The Railways welcomed the passengers with roses. A few even managed to smile back while some of the agitated ones shouted at the cops.

Kuljeet Singh, a passenger, said: “I had heard of the Naxalites before and would request the government to take immediate action against them”.

Another passenger Deepak expressed shock at the slogans painted on the train. A slogan ‘Chhatradhar Mahato ko nahin chodne se desh main aag laga denge’ (The country would be in flames if Mahato was not released). Imagine if a Rajdhani train could be taken hostage so easily, the vulnerability shows, he added.

“There was not even a single policeman on board. There was absolutely nobody to assist us. The relief train arrived more than five hours later,” said an angry Bishwa Ranjan, as he turned around to shout at railway officials and police present at the railway station.

Though passengers said Maoists did not harm anyone, they were clearly in a state of shock. “We were sleeping at around 2.30 pm when the train stopped. Within minutes the attackers started pelting stones at the windows,” said JM Mohanty. “Maoists threatened us of setting the train on fire in case the doors to the compartments were not opened,” he said.

There were some 400-500 persons armed with swords, spears, bow and arrows along the train tracks. “They broke open the doors and asked us to get off the train. We were really scared at this point. No one knew what to do,” said Sangeeta, another passenger, who mentioned that half of the attackers were women.

Not surprisingly, most of the passengers had not heard about Chhatradhar Mahato. “I did not know who Mahato was until the attackers told us,” Mohanty said.