Bandh beast bites its guardians
‘Hijacking’ Rajdhani, Maoists tease Mamata, Buddha and Centre
OUR BUREAU
Oct. 27: Maoist sympathisers today “hijacked” a Rajdhani Express in Bengal for several hours, using a bandh with telling effect on the patent-holder and a key mentor of the mode of disruption.
By the time “the publicity stunt” played itself out on TV screens, the perpetrators had managed to tease Mamata Banerjee with talks and Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee with a fresh swap demand and traumatise hundreds of passengers and families.
Nearly 400 villagers owing allegiance to the People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities — and allegedly aided by Maoists — blocked the Delhi-bound Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express at Banstala halt in West Midnapore’s Jhargram this afternoon. The blockade was being enforced as part of an indefinite bandh in the district to protest an alleged reign of terror by security forces.
The protesters proceeded to replicate diligently what the bandh champions of Bengal — the CPM as well as the Trinamul Congress and, lately, the Congress — have perfected to a fine art: force drivers out, smash windowpanes and generally run riot. Some passengers suffered injuries from the flying shards of glass.
But reports began spreading soon that the drivers had been “kidnapped”, probably because memories of last week’s hostage situation are still raw.
The protesters — security officers said they were led by 25 Maoists — added fuel to the fire, scrawling lines in English as well as Hindi extolling the arrested committee leader, Chhatradhar Mahato, and some telling passengers that the train would be released only after the government freed him.
The threat, passed on by passengers over phone to television newsrooms, changed the complexion of the blockade that graduated into a “hostage situation”.
In Delhi, home minister P. Chidambaram, home secretary G.K. Pillai and the Naxalite management division went into a huddle. In Calcutta, chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee ruled out either freeing Mahato or halting the operation of the joint forces in Lalgarh, the epicentre of the bandh in West Midnapore. Mahato was remanded in police custody for nine days today.
Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik spoke to Bhattacharjee and Chidambaram as the train had started out from Bhubaneswar with 346 passengers. The rest of the 459 passengers had boarded from Kharagpur. Around 2.35pm, the blockade stranded them in the middle of a jungle.
Joint forces headed to the area, encountering gunfire and felled trees on the way, which has strengthened the feeling that the Maoists had planned the “publicity stunt” — a term used by Union home secretary Pillai. A police driver was wounded.
Some protesters demanded that Mamata Banerjee — the train is her responsibility as railway minister — hold talks with them. Maoist leader Kishanji denied a hand but demanded that Mamata intervene. Mamata, squeamish about references to past association with Naxalites, said: “I earnestly appeal to them to release the drivers. If someone wants to talk to me, he can fix an appointment.”
Between 5.30pm and 6pm, possibly after learning that security forces were advancing, the protesters melted away, prompting Pillai to declare: “The train has been secured.”
The train resumed its journey towards Delhi at 10.08pm — the unscheduled halt lasting over seven hours — with doctors on board. Spare drivers from Kharagpur replaced the stressed-out drivers.
The original driver, Ananda Rao, said the train was moving at 110kmph when he noticed a red flag in the middle of the tracks. “I could not stop and drove over the flag. Suddenly, stones were hurled and I could see a pile of logs and branches on the tracks. I had to slam the brake.”
A passenger, Tapas Kumar Nayek, said many people fell on each other. “People armed with bows and arrows, axes and spears entered. We thought they were dacoits.”
“The agitators took away blankets, bed sheets and pillows from the compartments and food kept in the pantry car. No guard could be seen,” said Anchal Das, a passenger and former MP from Orissa.
However, the agitators assured the passengers that they would not be harmed and asked them to come out. But Asit Mahato, the committee’s spokesperson, told the passengers: “We wanted to take you to Jhargram town but we are unable to do so as security forces are advancing.”
Assistant driver K. Govinda Rao said: “We are safe and we were not kidnapped. We were standing in front of the engine.”
