Whodonit: Gyaneshwari Express Accident

Maoists were once again back in news...and this time with a vengeance and yet again, for all the wrong reasons. As the news headlines suggested last week, the sabotage of Mumbai bound train,
Gyaneshwari Express, in West Midnapore had all the imprints of a Maoist involvement. As many as 100 people died in the accident and more than 200 were critically injured.

However, interesting subsequent news reports indicated that it was perhaps a ‘rogue’ Maoist outfit that was behind the incident. Now this is perhaps the first time there are reports in the
media that a ‘rouge’ Maoist outfit exists. Or is it that perhaps the Maoist did not want to take the blame for an incident that invited severe criticism across the civil society in the media, and as an afterthought, blamed a ‘rogue’ outfit. If intelligence outfits in the country are to be Believed, the Maoist movement is an ‘exceptionally intelligent’ one and they don’t act without a valid reason or cause. Some news reports, cutting across mediums, suggested that the Maoists were indeed
responsible for the sabotage.

The civil society, which has been the biggest advocates of the Maoist in the media, now needs to answer a few uncomfortable questions. Earlier, the Maoist blew up a bus in Dantewada, killing innocent people and close on the heels comes the case of the Gyaneshwari Express train. And even if one was to believe the theory that a rogue Maoist group does exist, which is targeting innocent civilians, then perhaps it is time for our security establishments to take note of it so that
innocent killings can be stopped.