Mamata ‘not sure’ if Maoists were behind Jnaneswari mishap

June 01, 2010 05:41 pm | Updated November 28, 2021 09:02 pm IST - New Delhi

Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee at the Jnaneswari Express mishap site. Banerjee on Tuesday said she was not sure about the involvement of Maoists in the derailment. Photo: Arunangsu Roy Chowdhury

Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee at the Jnaneswari Express mishap site. Banerjee on Tuesday said she was not sure about the involvement of Maoists in the derailment. Photo: Arunangsu Roy Chowdhury

A day after Home Minister P. Chidambaram said Maoists could be behind the attack on the Jnaneswari Express, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said she was not sure about the involvement of the rebels.

“I do not know whether it is Maoists who were behind the attack. But whoever is behind the attack should be punished,” Ms. Banerjee told reporters here.

She said she does not want to comment further on the issue before the investigation is over.

“I am not a political astrologer. I cannot say anything before investigation,” she said.

Mr. Chidambaram on Monday said the needle of suspicion pointed to Maoists or their frontal organisations.

The Railways has asked for a CBI probe into the incident which claimed 149 lives. However the state government has not favoured such an idea.

“The matter of CBI probe is under the consideration of Ministry of Home Affairs,” Ms. Banerjee said.

The priority before the government is to ensure passengers’ safety and security, she said.

Ms. Banerjee termed the incident as a brutal murder of innocent people and said the government will do everything to punish the culprits.

On May 28, 13 coaches of the Maharashtra-bound train were derailed and later hit by a goods train coming from the opposite direction.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.