The Central Bureau of Investigation has sent a requisition to the West Bengal government's Criminal Investigation Department for arresting some suspects whom it has identified in the May 28 Jnaneswari train accident, which killed 150 people. The hand of the Maoists is suspected in the accident.
Director-General of Police Bhupinder Singh told reporters at the Secretariat on Monday that the CBI has identified some people and a requisition of arrests was sent to the CID.
“We also had the names of these people and we will try to find them,” he said.
He, however, declined to either give the names or the number of people for whom a ‘lookout' was being launched.
He said the CID will share information with the central agency.
Indications were that the difficult and unknown terrain in the Jangalmahal area in West Bengal had made it problematic for the CBI to conduct such exercises on its own.
Mr. Singh said the CBI had sought assistance from the State government in administrative, logistics and security matters for handling this case.
Mr. Singh said that following the intensification of security operations in Jharkhand, an alert had been issued in West Bengal, especially in Purulia and Paschim Medinipur which shares a border with Jharkhand, to prevent any of the rebels taking shelter there.
He said that in the Jangalmahal in Purulia, a two-day bandh beginning on Monday was being observed to protest against the arrest of a suspected rebel in Bihar who has not been produced in court.
He said operations were continuing in the Left Wing Extremism-affected areas in Paschim Medinipur, Bankura and Purulia in West Bengal and 14 land mines unearthed over the last two days in Salboni, Lalgarh and Madhupur.
Mr. Singh was unwilling to discuss successes and setbacks of the joint security operations in the LWE areas. The operations began on June 18 last year.
“It may be a landmark for you but for us it is a continuous process,” he said.
