Pro-Maoist activist held in Gyaneshwari train sabotage case
By IANSMonday, February 21, 2011
KOLKATA - A pro-Maoist activist was arrested in connection with the May 28, 2010 Gyaneshwari Express sabotage in West Bengal’s West Midnapore district in which 148 people were killed, police said Monday.
“Bablu Rana was one of the accused of the Gyaneshwari Express tragedy and named in the chargesheet produced by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) which is probing the incident. He was arrested from Indraboni area near Manikpara in Jhargram sub-division of the district,” said West Midnapore Additional Police Superintendent (Operations) Mukesh Kumar.
“He was an active member of the pro-Maoist tribal group Peoples’ Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCPA) and has been absconding. After being informed that Rana has returned to his native village, we carried out a raid and arrested him late Sunday,” Kumar told IANS over phone.
Rana was presented before Midnapore district court this afternoon.
A senior CBI officer said Rana was a close associate of Bapi Mahato, one of the prime accused of the case, who was arrested earlier.
“We will request the court to sent Rana in police custody,” said the officer.
After the Gyaneshwari Express ran off the tracks, a speeding freight train, coming from the opposite direction, rammed into five derailed coaches of the Gyaneshwari, leading to the high casualties.
