New Delhi:
The men who held a Rajdhani train hostage for five hours on Monday in West Bengal's West Midnapore District have given interviews freely to the media. They have accepted responsibility for the attack, and explained their motive.
Yet, 3 FIRs filed in this case mention no individuals. The one, filed by the Railways 24 hours after the attack, mentioned unknown persons. Bizarre, given that the People's Committee Against Police Atrocities, or PCPA, went on television during the five-hour crisis to say they were to blame.
Now, a new FIR filed by the Central Reserve Police Force, which actually ended the crisis after its men reached the train and forced the attackers to disappear, goes a small step further. It names the PCPA and accuses the organization of attacking the forces who were going to rescue the Rajdhani.
Ever since the 1200 passengers and two train drivers were freed, the focus has shifted to whether politicians are affiliated to the PCPA, and are trying to shield the tribal organization and its leader, Chattradar Mahato, known to be close to Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Mahatao was arrested near Lalgarh last month. Banerjee, in turn, accuses the ruling CPM in West Bengal of being closely linked to the Naxals in the state.
While the mudslinging continues, no agency has been able to track down the PCPA men who held the Rajdhani hostage. Surprising, because as reported on Tuesday on ndtv.com, NDTV's correspondent, Joydeep Ray, took less than 10 hours to find Dhanpati Mahato. In the forests between Jhargram and Banstala in West Bengal, Mahato told NDTV on camera, "We thought if we stopped the train, the District Railway Magistrate or some other officials would come. The PCPA has never stopped trains before...we wanted to warn the Centre."
Meanwhile, the Lalgarh area remains tense. Two CPM supporters were murdered in the last 24 hours and three kidnapped, all by suspected Maoists.