Maoist rebels destroy railway tracks, buildings in Bihar

PATNA, India (Reuters) - Maoist insurgents blew up railway tracks and three government buildings in Bihar on Monday, police said.

A section of track was damaged, derailing a train and disrupting the eastern rail network, a senior police officer said.

"We have dispatched forces to provide security to people and the railway workers who are restoring the damaged lines," Vinay Kumar, a senior police officer said from Jamui district, where the incident took place. No one was injured, he added.

Officials said on Monday that in another district, Maoist rebels used powerful explosives to blow up three government buildings.

"A police team is conducting raids to nab the fleeing rebels," Lokesh Kumar Singh, a government official said from Munger district, where the second incident took place.

The explosions came a day after police and Maoist rebels engaged in a fierce gun battle in eastern India, which left four Maoist rebels dead.

At least 100 Maoists were arrested in a police crackdown in eastern India in the last month, angering the rebels who say civilians with no ties to the movement were being arrested by the police.

The rebels say they are fighting for the rights of poor peasants and landless labourers and routinely call strikes, attack government property and target local politicians.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described the four-decade-old Maoist rebellion as the single biggest threat to India's internal security. Thousands of people have died in the insurgency so far.