(Refiles to insert dropped letter in paragraph 2) KOLKATA, India, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Hundreds of Maoist guerrillas stormed a high-speed train in eastern India on Tuesday and were battling security forces, police said. The Rajdhani Express, one of the country's most prestigious passenger trains, was stopped by the guerrillas in eastern West Bengal state. "About 300 Maoists have stopped the Rajdhani Express and have pulled out the driver," Dilip Mitra, a police officer, told Reuters in state capital Kolkata. The Maoists, who have stepped up violence across eastern and central India, had asked passengers to get off the train, local TV channels said. "One policemen has been injured and we are currently engaged in a battle with the rebels," Mitra said. Maoist rebels regularly attack goods trains and have in the past even hijacked a few local passenger trains in remote districts of India before fleeing.The Maoist rebellion began four decades ago championing the cause of poor peasants in the east, but has now spread to about 20 of India's 29 states, with the rebels targeting police and government property in hit-and-run attacks. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has warned the rebels had managed to retain support among a cross-section of society and remain the biggest internal security threat. (Reporting by Sujoy Dhar; Writing by Bappa Majumdar; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
Ragpickers collect plastic wastes on the banks of river Yamuna in the northern Indian city of Allahabad October 19, 2009. India, China and other big developing nations fear they will be ...
