Maoists set free 200 captive passengers

About 70 guerrillas seized the train on Monday evening after a rebel on board pulled the emergency cord to stop the train in a remote and hilly area in Jharkhand, a mineral rich but largely lawless state, police said.

"The rebels have melted into the jungles and we are now helping the terrified passengers, including, women and children vacate the area," police superintendent Subodh Kumar said.

"The situation is under control and the passengers are all safe. Around 7.00 a.m. (0130 GMT) today, the rebels ordered all the passengers out of the train. They later tried to set the engine on fire.

"Many women and children were crying, they must have been terrified after being held captive all night, but thankfully the ordeal is over."

He said the rebel leader had told passengers: We don't have anything against you and therefore you are free to go. This battle is against the government.

The Maoists, who say they are fighting on behalf of the peasants, have become increasingly active in what is known as the "Red Corridor" stretching from Nepal in the north -- with its own Maoist revolt -- to the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.

Police estimate there are as many as 20,000 Maoists, known as Naxalites, named after the town of Naxalbari in West Bengal where the movement began in 1967. They have close links with the Nepali Maoists.

The rebels operate in 15 of India's 29 states and 1,000 people died in the conflict last year. In November, Maoists briefly took over a town in Bihar.