Indian Maoists briefly hijack train during national elections

Maoist rebels briefly took hundreds of train passengers hostage in the state of Jharkhand, before releasing them unharmed, police sources say. The hijacking came a day before voting was to begin in the second stage of national elections.A day before the second round of India’s national elections, Maoist rebels briefly hijacked a train with at least 300 people on board and drove it to a remote destination before fleeing into the forest.About 200 rebels boarded a train in the insurgency-hit eastern Indian state of Jharkhand Wednesday morning and forced it to Latehar district before fleeing, local police officials said.The hijacking drama lasted a few hours and no one was injured in the attack. "All the passengers have been released and they are safe," Sarvendu Tathagat, a local government official in Jharkhand, told the AFP. "They (the rebels) left the train and fled into the jungle."Latehar station is about 105 kilometres northwest from Jharkhand state’s capital Ranchi.India's been facing a Maoist insurgency since the late 1960s. The insurrection has been growing in recent years and is active in more than half of the country's 29 states.