Maoist blast derails 13 coaches, 65 dead

[mhr123]

JHARGRAM, West Bengal: At least 65 passengers of a Maharashtra-bound express train were killed early Friday and over 200 injured in a Maoist-backed attack which led to derailment of 13 coaches that were hit by a goods train coming from the opposite direction. The bodies of the passengers were removed from the mangled remains of the ill-fated coaches of the Howrah-Kurla Lokmanya Tilak Gyaneshwari Super Deluxe Express and the injured taken out with the help of gas cutters, a south eastern railway spokesman said. "65 bodies have been recovered. The toll could go up," West Bengal home secretary Samar Ghosh said. The Maoist-backed People's Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA) has claimed responsibility for the derailment of the train. "The PCAPA have left two posters near the rail tracks clearly owning responsibility for the derailment of the Kurla-bound Gyaneswari Express," IGP (Law and Order) S Karpurakayastha said. The posters read, "We earlier demanded withdrawal of the joint security forces from Jangalmahal (West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia) and end of CPM atrocities, but those demands were not met." Another poster demanded immediate withdrawal of the joint forces from the area. Police have seized both posters. The incident occurred at 1:30am when the train was running between Khemasoli and Sardiya stations, about 135 km from Jhargram, south eastern railway officials said. Surojit Karpurokayastha said that according to preliminary investigation, fish plates were found removed at the derailment site. Earlier, railway minister Mamata Banerjee said the derailment followed a blast apparently triggered by Maoists who are observing a 'black week'. "We suspect Maoist hand behind the blast," Member (Traffic) Railway Board Vivek Sahai said. He said the driver of the train heard a loud explosion after which the train derailed. Railways are investigating if the tracks were tampered with, he said. 5 of the 13 derailed coaches fell on an adjacent track and were hit by a goods train coming from the opposite direction, Additional Superintendent of Police, Jhargram, Mukesh Kumar said. Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters were pressed into service at the accident spot to airlift some of the injured to the hospitals. Banerjee, who reached the accident spot, said a patrol engine had passed through the area half an hour earlier, but the timing of the blast proved disastrous with a portion of the line being blown away. She announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh for the next of kin of each of the dead and Rs 1 lakh for the injured. This is the second Maoist attack on civilians this month. Naxals had blown up a civilian bus in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh on May 17, killing at least 36 people, including 12 Special Police Officers. The West Bengal home secretary said that the over 200 injured have been shifted to different hospitals and the condition of some of them is critical. "Some of the critically injured people have been brought to Kolkata for surgical treatment," he said, adding that 30 of the bodies have been sent to various hospitals for post-mortem. President Pratibha Patil, who is in China, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed grief over the loss of lives in the incident. The Prime Minister announced Rs 2 lakh to the next of the kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured. South eastern railway spokesman Soumitra Majumdar said the train had 24 coaches. After the explosion, 13 including 10 sleeper coaches, derailed of which five were hit by the goods train coming on the opposite track. The derailment took place at a spot, 150 km from Kolkata. An unreserved coach, the pantry car and luggage van also derailed, he said. Relief officials used gas cutters to extricate trapped passengers and bodies from the mangled remains of the affected coaches. Passengers’ belongings lay strewn scattered on the tracks. Angry passengers said the first signs of relief came only around 5 am, three-and-a-half hours after the incident. Nine of the coaches which were not damaged in the blast took the injured and the other passengers to Kharagpur where they were admitted to hospital. Anti-Maoist forces were at the spot and assisting the police and rescue personnel in extricating the bodies from four badly damaged sleeper coaches S-5, S-6, S-7 and S-8. Helplines have been set up at Kharagpur -- (0322) 255751 and 255735, Howrah - (033) 26382217, besides a toll free number 10722. Helplines have also been set up at Tatanagar (0657) 2290324, 2290074, 2290382, at Rourkela (0661) 2511155, Chakradharpur (06587) 238072 and Jharsuguda (06445) 270977. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Maoist-blast-derails-13-coaches-of-Express-train-65-dead/articleshow/5983218.cms (:(( Many people from my city Jamshedpur have been killed as well as injured...

[Desi Cartman]

Chidambram is abig fecking :fail: They have said it so many times that they wont use army that if they now use it then opposition is gonna use the u turn.

[Sachinism]

Maoist's are out of control now

[Clarke]

ChidambramKANGRESS is abig fecking :fail: They have said it so many times that they wont use army that if they now use it then opposition is gonna use the u turn.

Corrected. FYI army is not the solution for all issues. This menace is decades old and should have been dealt with through successive administrations, its just now that operation green hunt started that you see the response from the terrorists.

[gs]

Yet another blast, yet another death toll, yet another day - life goes on - thanks to our chalta hai attitude!! :((

[coffee_rules]

Kill the f ac king pinkos.

[kabira]

Our government think this is law and order situation only. Our cabinet ministers are fighting themselves, there is no unity even within cabinet. And they just finished 1 year of government. This really Pi$$ed me off. They have to work grass root level to tackle naxalites.

[cowboysfan]

it is time.Congress needs to deal with this or they are in big trouble.The Maoists give a false sense of hope to thousands of tribals and others who think they are not represented in modern India.If we dont root out the problem now then we are looking at a Nepal situation where they will grow so powerful that there is nothing we can do .

[kabira]

^exactly, This can become big problem. its time to talk to them. They are our ppl.

[Texy]

bahahaha @kangress and the italian lady...... they will never do anything to jeopardize their vote banks no matter how many people die

[CSK Fan]

bahahaha @kangress and the italian lady...... they will never do anything to jeopardize their vote banks no matter how many people die

Considering that the problem started in its big way during the rule of the BJP, and that they were the ones who failed to take any definite steps and let it grow, thats really rich

[CSK Fan]

^exactly, This can become big problem. its time to talk to them. They are our ppl.

Who are our people? these terrorsts blowing innocent people? then even the Indians who supported Kasab and company are Indians. Should be also 'talk' with them instead of arresting or shooting them? You cannot talk over the dead bodies of the innocent. the people who did this should be made to realise that violence never pays. Or else anyone with a cause would start killing to get the govermetn to 'talk' Eradicate the menace first and then start the grass root development

[kabira]

^problem has been there for long long time. For example Assam, Bodo Militants have been there for more than 20 years. Its a social-economic problem and it has the solution.

[kabira]

Who are our people? these terrorsts blowing innocent people? then even the Indians who supported Kasab and company are Indians. Should be also 'talk' with them instead of arresting or shooting them?

They have huge support of ppl. So just treating it as law and order problem will not solve it. IT has to be approached differently than terrorism.

[CSK Fan]

They have huge support of ppl. So just treating it as law and order problem will not solve it. IT has to be approached differently than terrorism.

Yes, that approach has proven to be such a big success in the past 20 yrs, hasnt it? Next time a rapist or a murderer has support of lots of people, we should just sit and talk with them

[asterix]

This is not a Law & order situation. We are dealing with Terrorists here. The Govt. of India shouldn't pass the buck on the states and involve Army in tracking down their leadership and cadre.

[Texy]

Maoists have denied responsibility for this attack claiming they fight for the "junta" and will not do anything intentional to harm civilians. WB govt has refused CBI probe in this matter. Daal mein kuch kaala lagta hain

[bharathh]

This is not a Law & order situation. We are dealing with Terrorists here. The Govt. of India shouldn't pass the buck on the states and involve Army in tracking down their leadership and cadre.

Although what you say is true... we have a bigger problem at hand in our country. How to uplift the peoples of the Naxalite areas by actually giving those people what most in towns take for granted. These areas are pathetically underdeveloped. Until they are developed and corruption in those areas is reduced, we are fighting a losing battle - much like the Americans are in the tribal belt of Pakistan. Getting rid of the Naxals will not magically make the place a better one. Our leadership has to focus on the root cause of the Naxals thriving in these places.

[asterix]

Although what you say is true... we have a bigger problem at hand in our country. How to uplift the peoples of the Naxalite areas by actually giving those people what most in towns take for granted. These areas are pathetically underdeveloped. Until they are developed and corruption in those areas is reduced, we are fighting a losing battle - much like the Americans are in the tribal belt of Pakistan. Getting rid of the Naxals will not magically make the place a better one. Our leadership has to focus on the root cause of the Naxals thriving in these places.

Bart, I agree what you say but to embark on developement projects, the local authorities should have the control and security in those areas..The Naxals will never allow Govt. agencies to bring in any sort of developement because that will affect their 'bread & butter'. I read somewhere that the Naxal's are able collect huge amount of money by various means like ransom, smuggling etc. The top leadership has to be hunted down and eliminated by various means. They move in cover of darkness between states. They need to be hunted down by heat seeking and other technologically advanced drones whenever they break cove in the night.

[yoda]

You cannot negotiate with people who break the law. It is a green signal for such future groups. That said, the last thing we want is a LTTE type situation in our country. So, looks like we are screwed. :((