The CBI took over the Gyaneshwari Express investigation from the state police in June, and announced a reward of Rs 3 lakh for information leading to the arrest of three prime accused -- Bapi Mahato, Umakanto Mahato and Asit Mahato.
Nineteen months after she suggested that Communist Party of India-Marxist was behind the Jnaneswari Express disaster, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said Maoists were 'prima facie' responsible, but later clarified she did not also rule out the hand of the Marxists.
The death toll in the Gyaneshwari Express derailment in West Midnapore district on Saturday rose to 104 after more bodies were extricated from the wrecked coaches of the Mumbai-bound train.
Not keen to take any chances in the wake of the derailment of the Gyaneshwari Express on Friday, the railway ministry has decided to suspend the running of passenger trains for seven hours in the night in Naxal-affected areas, during the Black Week declared by the Left-wing extremists. The decision came after Maoists derailed the Howrah-Kurla Gyaneshwari Express in West Midnapore district of West Bengal in the wee hours of Friday, killing more than 100 people.
"It was pitch dark... when I regained my senses, I somehow managed to scramble out of the coach through the emergency window," said Anil Gupta, who was onboard the Maharashtra-bound Gyaneshwari Express, which came under Maoist attack in the wee hours of Friday.
Rescue teams look for the dead and injured passengers inside the mangled bogies of Gyaneshwari Express on Friday.
Narmada Nithin Raju claimed the gold medal in the women's 10m air rifle with a new national record score of 254.4.
Fishplates were found and removed at the spot where the Mumbai-bound Gyaneswari Express derailed early on Friday morning leaving several dead, a senior police official said.
G M Rao is looking for his son-in-law, who was in the S-3 compartment of the ill-fated Mumbai-bound Gyaneshwari Express, which derailed near Jhargram in West Midnapore district in West Bengal on Friday morning.
The Communist Party of India - Marxist on Saturday rubbished suggestions by Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee that a political conspiracy was behind the Gyaneshwari Express disaster in West Midnapore, alleging that she was trying to cover up lapses and failures of her ministry in the incident. Senior CPI-M Politburo member Sitaram Yechury also said some elements were 'cynically' using the situation to further their petty partisan interests.
Rediff.com correspondent Indrani Roy Mitra and Photographer Dipak Chakraborty reached the accident site near Jhargram in West Bengal, where a Mumbai-bound train derailed, early on Friday morning. She chronicles the grim situation at ground zero and asks some tough questions.
Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday alleged that there was a political conspiracy behind the Gyaneshwari Express disaster in West Midnapore and said the Centre has agreed for a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the mishap. "From the railways, we have requested the Union home ministry for a CBI investigation into the incident, since it was in Jangalmahal where the joint operation (against Maoists) is on."
At least 120 passengers were feared killed and Hundred passengers were killed and 160 injured after suspected Maoists derailed 13 coaches of Mumbai-bound Gyaneshwari Express leading to a collision with a goods train in West Midnapore district early on Friday.
Mangled heaps of bogies lying off the tracks, passengers in bandages and plasters and a row of hearse vans lined up -- the scene at the site of the derailment of the Mumbai-bound Gyaneshwari Express near Jhargram virtually resembled a war zone.
The accident site in West Midnapore, West Bengal, has been strewn with mutilated bodies and belongings of passengers of the ill-fated Gyaneshwari Express.
The West Bengal police on Saturday night said Maoists were behind the Gyaneshwari Express derailment and claimed to have identified the culprits behind the incident that has claimed 136 lives so far. "Those who did it are all members of Maoist squads. We have identified them and a search is on to nab them," Director General of Police Bhupinder Singh told reporters. He said two members of a Maoist squad, who were recently released on bail, had led the operation.
An ex-Army jawan escaped death in the Gyaneshwari Express tragedy, but five of his relatives who were sleeping in the S-5 coach of the ill-fated train were crushed to death. "Five of my family members died as the goods train rammed into the passenger train were their berths were located," he said, sitting on the side of the tracks at Sardiha, as rescuers lifted the mangled coach from the tracks.
Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee has suspected the involvement of Maoists in the derailment of the Gyaneshwari express on Friday as the incident comes on the first day of the 'black week' being observed by the Naxals.
The Central Bureau of Investigation arrested a leader of Maoists-backed the People's Committee against Police Atrocities on Saturday for alleged involvement in derailment of Gyaneswari Express that left 148 people dead in West Midnapore district, the fourth arrest in the case.
Top Maoist leader Kishenji claimed on Tuesday that his oufit was not involved in the May 28 Jnaneswari Express disaster in West Midnapore district that claimed 148 lives.
The death toll in Gyaneswari Express derailment rose to 148 after some more bodies, trapped under the engine of the goods train which had rammed into the derailed coaches, were extricated by rescuers on Sunday morning.
Anxious relatives of passengers in the Howrah-Mumbai Express, which was targeted by Maoists on Friday morning, are desperately calling up helpline numbers in Mumbai to know the status of their near and dear ones.Maoists blasted rail tracks in West Midnapore district in West Bengal in the wee hours of Friday, derailing 13 coaches of the Mumbai-bound Howrah-Kurla Lokmanya Tilak Gyaneshwari Super Deluxe Express. Five coaches were hit by a goods train, leaving at least 65 dead.
The derailment of the Lokmanya Tilak Gyaneshwari Super Deluxe Express in West Midnapore district, which left at least 75 passengers dead on Friday, threw up a number of contradictions on what caused the mishap. Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee, who flew to the accident spot in a helicopter, said the derailment was caused by a bomb blast and indicated that Maoists were behind it.
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