Fifth man held for train sabotage

KOLKATA - A pro-Maoist activist who was one of the key accused in the derailment of a train in West Bengal that killed 148 people was arrested in Jharkhand Sunday, police said here.

Bapi Mahato, for whom the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had announced a reward of Rs.1 lakh for information leading to his capture, was taken into custody at Jamshedpur.

He is the fifth man to be arrested for the May 28 sabotage of rail tracks by suspected Maoists that derailed the Gyaneshwari Express in West Bengal. Several of the derailed train coaches were then hit by a goods train when they rolled on to a parallel track.

“Mahato was arrested by our police from Jamsedpur,” West Bengal Director General of Police Bhupinder Singh told IANS.