01-06-2010NEW DELHI: Union home minister P Chidambaram on Monday contradicted Mamata Banerjee’s “CPM-is-behind-the-attack-on-Gyaneshwari-Express” theory and said that CPI(Maoist) or one of its front outfit could have been behind the attack.
“The needle of suspicion points to the CPI(Maoist) or frontal organisation of the CPI (Maoists),” Mr P Chidambaram said while presenting the MHA’s monthly report card here. “However, the identity of the culprit can be established only in the investigation,” he added.
On the possibility of a blast on the track, the home minister said that there was no trace of any explosives. “I have been told by the West Bengal government and other police officials who visited the site that so far there is no trace of any explosives. The West Bengal government is on record saying pandrol clips were removed and track was cut. That is also prima facie established. Only further investigations will bring out the truth.”
Ms Banerjee, who has been indulging in the game of buck-passing, had made an audacious claim that the blast was the handiwork of the West Bengal government. The spat between CPM and the Trinamool touched a low on Sunday when one of Ms Banerjee’s MPs, Ms Kalyan Banerjee, called the state DGP a “fool” for holding Maoists responsible for the attack. On its part, the Trinamool has also been maintaining that a CBI probe alone can unravel the forces behind the attack. During his interaction with the media, Mr Chidambaram said the Centre can take a call on the CBI probe only after eliciting the views of the state government.
“The ministry of railways has suggested that there should be a CBI inquiry. We have asked for West Bengal government’s views. We have not yet received their views..the views are expected to be in at the end of the day (today),” he said.
Late in the evening, the West Bengal government said that there was no need for a CBI probe into the derailment of the Gyaneshwari Express. The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.
“The CID probe has progressed a great deal and the state government does not feel that a parallel inquiry is necessary,” West Bengal home secretary Samar Ghosh told reporters at the state secretariat. He said the Union home ministry had sent a letter on Sunday to chief secretary Ardhendu Sen seeking concurrence of the state government for a CBI investigation.
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