Rajdhani hijack: CRPF files FIR against Maoists

In an apparent damage control in the Rajdhani Express hijack drama, a second FIR naming Maoists and a group backed by them has been filed by the Central Resreve Police Force (CRPF) after the Railway Police Force (RPF) filed the first report against “unknown persons”.

Unlike the railway officials, the CRPF personnel, in their FIR at the Jhargram police station, also mentioned the name of Asit Mahato as one of the kingpins involved in holding up the Delhi-Bhubaneswar train at an area in rural West Bengal. Asit Mahato is the younger brother of Chhatradhar Mahato, and now heads the People’s Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA) after his brother’s arrest. The train was held up by people under the banner of PCPA, which also demanded the release of Chhatradhar.

It has put the Centre in a piquant situation where two of its departments took disparate and contrary positions. However, the RPF’s version of the incident as recorded in its FIR goes with the current ambivalent position taken by Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee and her party Trinamool Congress on the Maoists. So far, Banerjee has been avoiding criticising the Maoists directly for their acts although she often reiterates her opposition to the ‘politics’ of killing of individuals. This has drwan flak from her biggest rival in West Bengal — the ruling CPI(M).

The CPI(M) leaders, including their general secretary Prakash Karat, accuse the Trinamool Congress of having a clandestine link with the Maoists, which has been vociferously denied by both the TC and its ally Congress.