Confusion ruled on Friday morning as doubts surfaced over the cause of the derailment of the ill-fated Gyaneshwari Express.
In Delhi, home minister P Chidambaram was non-committal in declaring that the derailment happened due to a blast.
But after visiting the accident site, railway minister Mamata Banerjee said explosives were indeed used by the Maoists. By evening, it started becoming somewhat clear that a part of the railway track had been sabotaged by the Maoists.
Surveying the spot, director general of West Bengal police Bhupinder Singh said that prime facie there was no evidence to prove that that there was indeed an explosion.
“Had there been an explosion, it would have affected the adjacent tracks. Similarly, explosives could have been traced at the spot. But no such thing was seen. A series of de-bolted pandrol clips and fishplates were found over a large area over 50 meters. It was evident that de-bolting of pandrol clips led to the derailment,” Singh said.
However, Banerjee stuck to her blast theory. Despite the state police chief’s contention that it was an act of sabotage, she maintained that the derailment had taken place due to a blast as TNT and gelatin sticks were recovered from the spot.
Mamata said that an explosion on the tracks prompted the Gyaneshwari Express driver to apply sudden breaks which caused the derailment. But everyone, including the Centre, Bengal government, police and defence experts rejected this theory.
Even the rescued staff and guards of the Gyaneshwari Express and the goods train with which it collided, also denied that there was an explosion.
“The engine of Gyaneshwari Express was on the tracks, but its coaches were derailed. I tried to stop my train, but it was too late,” goods train driver Nirbhay said.
