Maoists derail train in India, 80 dead

[Abu Zolfiqar]

time for india to take action and do more to stop this homegrown menace

RIP to the dead

 

[Prometheus]

how many times same news is going to be posted????

 

[karan.1970]

^ Dont be an a$$. do you see any indian making fun of whats happeneing in Lahore in all of 17 pages that thread has gone on for..

 

[Al-zakir]

Let the Deceased rest in peace however this Maoists uprising must be bleeding the core of Bharat power center. No way to denying it's existence no more.

 

[Evil Flare]

^ Dont be an a$$. do you see any indian making fun of whats happeneing in Lahore in all of 17 pages that thread has gone on for..

You can check comments on hindustantimes regarding lahore by our dear indians

 

[Emperor Palpatine]

Let the Deceased rest in peace however this Maoists uprising must be bleeding the core of Bharat power center. No way to denying it's existence no more.

No need to over exaggerated it ...its bleeding and killing innocent people... India never denied its existence...Indian govt. just did not pay much attention to it.

Now since the operations are going as several Maoists are arrested and killed, the Maoist are getting restless and annoyed and hence killing innocent civilians

 

[Windjammer]

Ambushing and killing security forces is understandable but why would they resort to derailing a train unless there were large number of Soldiers on board. Members here argue that the Maoist are no terrorist set up but if this is their way of protesting than what in India is regarded as a terrorist act is any body's guess.

 

[Windjammer]

JHARGRAM: A gruesome act of sabotage that bore the hallmark of a Maoist attack killed more than 100 people on Friday, most of them passengers asleep on a Mumbai-bound train, huddled in their berths with their children. Among the worst train attacks in the country, it sent out an ominous sign that the Maoists may have moved to the next step of their terror campaign - targeting civilians.

More than 200 passengers were severely injured as the Howrah-Mumbai Gyaneshwari Express derailed at 1.15am between Khemashuli and Sardiha stations, near the Maoist stronghold of Jhargram, about 150km from Kolkata.

Several coaches landed on a parallel track and were rammed by a goods train, which roared in barely five minutes later. Friday's attack comes a few days after Maoists blew up a packed civilian bus in Dantewada just to target a few Special Police Officers who were hitching a ride after an operation.

The Jhargram accident site - barely 7km from the Kalaikunda air base - was a horrific scene of blood and gore. Mangled bodies hung out of crushed carriages. Torn-off limbs and chunks of flesh were scattered everywhere.

The screams of those trapped mingled with the shouts of survivors looking for their loved ones. As the hours dragged on, many of the screams gradually faded out.

Officials said Maoists removed pandrol clips along a 50-foot stretch on both tracks. These clips fasten fishplates to the sleepers. One-an-a-half feet of the up-line track is missing at the point where compartment S3 had come to rest. While the railways alleged sabotage, the CRPF found a PCPA poster from the accident site which claimed responsibility for the act. PCPA was the Maoist-backed group that blocked the Tata Nano plant in Singur.

West Bengal DGP Bhupinder Singh said at the accident site that it was a Maoist act and that preliminary inquiries strongly support the suspicion.

Railway minister Mamata Banerjee initially accused the rebels, saying a blast threw the train off the tracks, but the Union home ministry said there was no proof of an explosion. Southeastern Railway general manager A P Mishra said gelatine sticks and TNT was found near the crash site.

Spooked by the attack, the Railway Board mulled a ban on night movement of trains in Naxal areas; the loco operators association has already announced that no driver would ply trains in these places at night.
While 13 compartments of the passenger train were severely damaged, the goods train engine scraped the right side of the express, peeling off compartment walls and tearing apart dozens of people, before it slammed into two bogies reducing them to a mass of twisted metal. At least 50 mangled bodies that were dragged by the goods train are suspected to have been pasted to its engine.

Till 11pm on Friday, 81 bodies had been found and West Midnapore district magistrate N S Nigam said the death toll would cross 100.

It was an uneventful journey for Gyaneshwari Express till well past midnight. It left Kharagpur at 12.35pm and chugged past Khemashuli station at 45km/hr. Just before Sardiha, the engine driver apparently heard a "loud noise". Before he could react, the wheels started slipping off the tracks near the 134/11 post. He pulled the brakes near post number 134/13, but the train rolled for about 150 metres before breaking apart near post 134/17.

Thirteen compartments were thrown off the tracks. While coaches S2 and S3 tilted to a side, S4, S5, S6, S7 and S8 skidded about 70 feet and landed on the opposite track. Barely five minutes later, before the survivors could recover from the shock, an iron ore-laden goods train was heard approaching from the opposite direction.

An emergency signal was sent to the goods train but it was too late. The driver pulled the brakes but sheer momentum carried it on to the stranded bogies. One can only imagine the horror of the passengers on coaches S5 and S6 as they saw the train draw near. Both compartments were tossed in the air and crushed like tin cans. There were no survivors.

The Jnaneswari locomotive pilot B K Das and assistant pilot T Debangan and the goods train driver Nirbhay Kumar jumped out in the nick of time but Nirbhay's assistant Nilanjan Singh was crushed to death.
"There was a violent jerk and the lights went off. Everyone was thrown to the floor and the luggage started dropping from the bunks. The compartment tilted to the right and slammed on the ground. We somehow managed to get out," said Neelam Saluja, who was travelling with her daughter and husband in another coach.

Kharagpur and Jhargram stations were alerted, but rescue efforts took time. The site is 12km from Jhargram and there are no villages within 3-4 km. CRPF personnel from the Belpara and Manikpara camps were the first to reach the spot at 2.30am. They were followed by an RPF rescue team half an hour later.

The jawans did whatever they could in pitch darkness.

It was only at first light that the operation gathered pace with three CRPF battalions, comprising 500 jawans, slicing into compartments with gas cutters and pulling out the trapped and the dead.

Initially, the injured were taken to hospitals in CRPF ambulances. Soon, the Air Force got in the act, deploying six helicopters to airlift the seriously injured to hospitals in Kharagpur, Midnapore and Jhargram. Some were brought to Kolkata.

Railway minister Mamata Banerjee, who is camping at the spot, demanded a CBI inquiry. Trains have become a soft target, she said. "We have 65,000km of rail track running through villages and most express and mail trains travel at night. It is easy to target them," said the minister.

"An inspection engine piloted the Ranchi-Hatia Express down the same track at 12.37pm. No damage was reported then. This is clearly an act of sabotage," said Dilip Mitra, ADG of the railways.

But PCPA spokesperson Asit Mahato said the outfit had nothing to do with the accident. "The poster found at the spot was fake. Police and state government are trying to implicate us falsely," Mahato said. Maoist spokesperson Rakesh, who identified himself as a member of the Bengal-Jharkhand-Orissa Border Zonal Committee, said: "We have nothing to do with the accident."


Maoists trigger train crash, 100 die - India - The Times of India

 

[Iggy]

Ambushing and killing security forces is understandable but why would they resort to derailing a train unless there were large number of Soldiers on board. Members here argue that the Maoist are no terrorist set up but if this is their way of protesting than what in India is regarded as a terrorist act is any body's guess.

To pressurize Indian government to stop CRPF action against them..they are trying to take India as hostage by killing innocent civilians so that they should appeal government to stop action in fear of their lives..hope government dont back out due to this..I always say the growing number of attacks on civilians is due to the operation green hunt taking its effect...its unfortunate innocent civilians has to suffer..but this cancer called naxalism should be wiped out..

 

[Bhim]

Centre lacks stomach for an all-out war against Naxals? - India - The Times of India

Why doesn't GOI take action..just why?

 

[Bhim]

They are terrorists, just plain and simple.
The left wing politicians don't want them to be labeled as such.
Sad fact of mixed party ruling.

 

[Parashuram1]

These left extremists are really getting out of control in your country. What are you waiting for if your government's resolve to negotiate an agreement has been stalled by them? When diplomacy fails, I think your military should make a move.

Any state around the world has the rights to obliterate those who are involved in killing innocent civilians who are national citizens. If this continues your country would become a laughing stock among world powers.

I sincerely offer my condolences to the family of those who passed away in this horrific and inhuman attack.

 

[EyelessInGaza]

This is where the Maoists have just lost a battle, a crucial battle at that; hopefully it will be enough to give them a severe setback.

I say they have lost the battle because they have attacked civilians and on a major scale. They and their cause will lose all public sympathy for at least a while. Stupid error on their part.

 

[Evil Flare]

Centre lacks stomach for an all-out war against Naxals? - India - The Times of India

Why doesn't GOI take action..just why?

May be it could turn into a civil war ...

 

[karan.1970]

You can check comments on hindustantimes regarding lahore by our dear indians

Are they by the members of this forum?