On May 28, 2010, Maoists derailed the Jnaneshwari Express, killing 148 passengers.
Photograph: Parth Sanyal/Reuters
On May 28, 2010, the 12101 Jnaneswari Express, running between Mumbai and Howrah, met with an accident in which 148 people died and 200 others were injured.
It was one of the worst train accidents in India.
What was thought to be a case of derailment that led to many deaths turned out be an act of terror, sabotage, by the outlawed Maoists.
What happened 15 years ago?
The Jnaneswari Express derailed on May 28, 2010 at 1.30 am between the Sardiha and Khemasuli stations in West Bengal.
The sleeping passengers were killed when a goods train rammed into five bogies of the Jnaneswari Express that had earlier jumped the rails. The accident was caused by removing fishplates and portions of the tracks removed.
The crew of the goods train observed the tripping of overhead electrification mast and heavy dust surrounding the track ahead, impairing visibility.
After a few moments, they noticed that the flasher light of the Jnaneswari Express was on, implying that the loco pilot was warning the crew of the train coming from the opposite direction.
Apprehending danger, the crew of the goods train applied emergency brakes.
Unfortunately, before the goods train could come to a halt, it collided with the derailed coaches of Jnaneswari Express.
13 coaches of tne Jnaneswari Express had derailed out of which five coaches were rammed into by the goods train. 148 passengers were killed, making it one of the worst rail tragedies in India.
Rs 5 lakhs in compensation was announced for the next of kin by then railway minister Mamata Banerjee and Rs 1 lakh was given to each injured person. Till last year, relatives of 17 victims were yet to get the dead bodies of their loved ones or even a death certificate.
How was the Maoist involvement behind the sabotage discovered?
The Maoists backed People's Committee against the Police Atrocities (PCPA) left two posters near the rail tracks owning up responsibility for the derailment.
The posters read, 'We had demanded the withdrawal of the joint security forces from Jungle Mahal (West Bengal) and end the then ruling party of West Bengal of Communist Party of India-Marxist's atrocities, but those demands were not met.'
Another poster demanded the immediate withdrawal of the joint forces from the area. The police seized both the posters and started a hunt for the culprits.
Who was the mastermind behind the sabotage?
Umakanto Mahato (37), a Maoist, was the main accused who carried out the act of terror, according to the police.
The police said Umakanta led a Maoist frontal organisation, the Paribesh Dushan Mancha.
Umakanta had been arrested in June 2009 for blocking the roads but got bail six months later and turned a fugitive.
The police linked him to the train tragedy after intercepting his phone conversation. Later, the Central Bureau of Investigation announced a reward of Rs 2 lakhs for him.
Was he nabbed?
Umakanto was killed in a police encounter two years later, on August 27, 2010, in a late night encounter between the security forces and Maoists in the Mohanpur forest near Jhargram in West Bengal's Paschim Medinipur district.
His wife, Sabita Mahato, cried foul and claimed that Umakanto was killed because he was raising his voice against the polluting iron factories of West Bengal.
What about the other accused?
Six accused got bail in November 2022.
Another 11 accused in the case got bail in February 2023.
These accused were arrested in different periods from 2010 to 2012.
According to a report in The Times of India newspaper, while granting bail to the accused, a Calcutta high court division bench stated that the accused cannot be kept in custody without trial for long as they too have fundamental rights.
The case is ongoing, and there have been no convictions so far.
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