The two day Maoist bandh had an impact mainly in the Naxal infested pockets. It had little impact in the urban areas. The bandh call was given in the states of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhatisgarh and Odisha.<br/><br/>Five CRPF Jawans were killed in Lalgarh area of West Bengal by Maoists. In another incident in the state a landmine blast damaged a railway track near Jhargram injuring two drivers. <br/><br/>In Odisha, Naxals stormed the Badigata village in Malkangiri district this morning and blew up a panchayat office building. In Chhatisgarh, a security alert had been sounded in view of the bandh. <br/><br/>The Naxals blew up a bus in Dantewada district of the state on Monday leaving 35 people dead. In Jharkhand, surface transport remained affected in the rural areas but no untoward incident has been reported from the state. <br/><br/>AIR correspondent reports that loading and unloading of minerals were affected, as truck services remained suspended.<br/><br/>In Bihar Railways have intensified the security measures to prevent any loss to the infrastructure including railway lines. Shops remained closed and long route buses did not ply in the naxal infested areas.<br/><br/>Earlier, the Home Minister, Mr. Chidambaram offered to hold fresh talks with the Naxals if they suspend violence for 72 hours. He pleaded for a larger mandate for his ministry in dealing with the growing naxal menace in the country. <br/><br/>Supporting Mr. Chidambaram’s argument Finance Minister Mr. Pranab Mukherjee has said that the government is ready to empower the Home Ministry to use air support for police action against Naxalites. He, however, made it clear that adequate safeguards have to be in place against any misuse of such powers.<br/><br/> Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Mr. Raman Singh today termed Naxals as the biggest terrorists and said that there cannot be a soft line to deal with them. He, however disfavoured use of air power to combat the menace. He Attributed the recent spurt in the Naxal violence to frontal operations by the security forces in the Chhatisgarh. He said the ultras have killed more than 1000 civilians and more than 650 policemen besides blowing up 132 electric towers, 106 school buildings and three hospitals in the state. <br/><br/>Talking to reporters after the meeting with the Planning commission on Wednesday evening he said that the Naxal menace can be effectively dealt with through close coordination between the centre and the states.<br/><br/>The Congress on Wednesday said that the nation is one on the issue. Party spokesman Abhishek Sighvi said that centre will provide all support to the affected states. He However made it clear that the states have to take a lead to deal with the menace.<br/><br/>BJP has supported a multipronged approach to deal with the grave internal security threat. A statement issued by the party urged the centre to provide all possible assistance to the states in this regard.<br/><br/>The CPI on Wednesday also opposed the idea of using air force to fight Maoists. Party General Secretary A B Bardhan said in Bhubaneswar that his party did not comprehend the idea of limited mandate being given to the Home Minister in dealing with the problem.