Patna (Bihar), Apr. 22 : Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Yadav and NDA leader and Bihar''s Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi were engaged in a war of words on Wednesday, hours after Naxals struck in four places in Bihar and Jharkhand a day before the second phase of general elections.

"These attacks show that there is anarchy in all four quarters of Bihar. This (NDA) government (led by Nitish Kumar) is a failure," said Lalu Yadav.

Countering Lalu''s charge, Modi said: "Lalu Yadav has no business to talk about law and order or the Naxal menace in Bihar or in neighbouring areas. He is the one responsible for introducing the Naxals in Bihar, not only that, he is also responsible for encouraging the Ranvir Sena and the MCC. In the 40-odd months that we (NDA) has been in power, we have neutralised the menace."

Naxal struck ahead of Lok Sabha polls by taking a passenger train hostage travelling from Barkana to Mugalsarai in Jharkhand on Wednesday morning at around 7 a. m. They took 700 to 800 passengers hostage. A CNN-IBN report, however, said that there were only about 70 to 75 passengers on board the captive train.

Naxals later took the train to Latehar railway station. Latehar Deputy Commissioner Sarvendu Tathagat was quoted as saying :"The target of the Maoists are the police, and the police are moving cautiously to the place."

Unconfirmed reports claim there are around 200 Naxals who boarded the train.

Jharkhand police in the area claim that all the passengers are safe. Four helicopters and Railway Protection Force has been pressed into action to control the situation. Additional forces have been rushed to the spot.

Attacks after Naxalites called for a bandh to boycott polls in Jharkhand and Bihar. (ANI)