Activists hold Rajdhani hostage

Five-hour tense standoff in rural Bengal finally ends without violence.

Armed activists of a Naxal-backed group today stopped the Bhubaneswar-Delhi Rajdhani Express and held up the prestigious train for several hours in a hostage-type situation in a jungle area of West Bengal’s West Midnapore district, a few km ahead of Jhargram station.

However, all 1,200 passengers and train crew came through the ordeal safely. The train was secured after dusk by the Central Reserve Police Force and the state police, which had both been rushed to the spot after the dramatic incident which began around 2:30 am.

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram was monitoring the official response, coordinating with the chief ministers of West Bengal and Orissa, as also the Union Rail Minister, Mamata Banerjee, talking to whom was one of the train-stoppers’ demands. The incident was organised by the People’s Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA), the network which had spearheaded the long movement against the state apparatus at and around Lalgarh, resulting in a recent mass police action by a combination of central and state forces.

The activists who stopped the train demanded release of their jailed leader, Chhatradhar Mahato, and other colleagues. A related demand was withdrawal of security forces from the region; the activists said they also wanted to talk to Mamata Banerjee, a foe of the West Bengal government.

The demands were promptly rejected by state chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. As for the Union minister, she insisted the activists first release the train with everyone in it safe and unharmed.

As it turned out, the activists retreated and let go of the train. Witnesses said it had been brought to a halt by placing a tree branch on the tracks at Banstala, 10 km from Jhargram station. The air-conditioned train had been also attacked with stones and some windows doors smashed at the outset, but the passengers had not been touched. Slogans had also been painted on the coashes before the standoff ended.

Driver Anand Rao said the activists had ordered him to switch off the engine and not to take the train forward, and then cordoned him. He initially thought they were dacoits.

Initially, Santosh Patra, who has apparently taken over PCPA after the arrest of Mahato said, “We have a 22-point demand agenda. The joint forces are committing atrocities on us by branding us as Maoists (Naxals). Our leader, Chhatradhar Mahato, has been framed.” He added that a “rail roko’ order had been issued, pursuant to an indefinite bandh called by his organisation since the morning against police atrocities in the region.

"The joint forces (of central and state police) are firing on the PCPA. We demand immediate cessation of the firing or we cannot guarantee the security of the drivers and the security of the passengers," Naxal leader Kishenji — the PCPA says they aren’t Naxals or Naxal-controlled, though the party is helping their struggle — told PTI over phone.

Mamata Banerjee said talks could take place after the train was let go, not before. And that the railways shouldn’t be held hostage in a fight with the state government. There were more anxious moments and more statements of this sort issued before the drama finally ended.