Bengal Govt points finger at Maoist activists
The West Bengal government is saying Friday’s train tragedy in Jhargram was the handiwork of the Maoists. Chances are the government is right.
The West Bengal government is saying Friday’s train tragedy in Jhargram was the handiwork of the Maoists. Chances are the government is right.
The spot, the surroundings and the events leading to the mishap have evidence of Maoist involvement.
The drill is familiar: remove fishplates and plant explosives beneath the tracks so that trains are blown up as soon as they reach the spot.
South Eastern Railway General Manager A.P. Mishra said: “Preliminary investigations are pointing to a blast. If it had been a problem with the clip (which fixes the tracks with the sleepers) or the fishplate, the engine would have derailed first after hitting it. But it passed over the tracks safely.”
HT’s scrutiny lent credence to Mishra’s statement. HT has explored certain possibilities. First, it could have been a Maoist operation as part of its countrywide disruptive plans. On many occasions, Maoists had blown up tracks and caused derailment.
Second, it was the job of local Maoist activists, People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army members, or People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA) supporters, but their leadership were not in the know of what was coming.
Third, others did it on some local issue, knowing that they would not be blamed in any case because Maoists are the usual suspects.
DGP Bhupinder Singh said initial investigations suggested the tragedy was caused either by a blast or the removal of fishplates.