NEW DELHI: A cautious Home Minister P Chidambaram on Friday blamed act of sabotage behind the derailment of Howrah-Kurla-Jnaneswari Express train in West Bengal, but fell short of either condemning the attack or accusing the Maoists for the tragedy.
Conveying condolences to the families of the deceased, Chidambaram said, “It appears to be a case of sabotage where a portion of the railway track was removed.
Whether explosives were used is not yet clear.” His message clearly missed the tone and tenor of Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee, who blamed the Maoists for carrying out a well-calculated bomb blast.
The Home Minister, sources said, deliberately gave a calibrated response because of his party’s ongoing political tussle with Mamata’s Trinamool Congress in West Bengal.
Home Ministry officials said there were no reports of a blast and it looked to be an act of sabotage done by the People’s Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA), who removed the fishplates of railway track causing derailment of the train.
Four teams of National Disaster Response Force have been deployed to assist the rescue and relief operations.