Sixth arrest in Bengal train sabotage

KOLKATA - A pro-Maoist activist, accused in the derailment of the Gyaneshwari Express in West Bengal in which 148 people were killed, was arrested from Kharagpur in West Midnapore district Wednesday, police said.

Mantu Mahato is the sixth man to be arrested for the May 28 sabotage of rail tracks by suspected Maoists that led to the derailment of the Gyaneshwari Express in West Bengal. Several of the derailed train coaches which rolled on to a parallel track were then hit by an oncoming goods train.

Mantu, a resident of Manikpara village in Jhargram town of West Midnapore, had fled home to evade arrest by the police.

“While examining the SIM card recovered from Bapi, the sleuths came to know that Mantu maintained regular contacts with Bapi. Mantu’s mobile number was recovered and later kept under surveillance to track down his exact location,” said a senior officer of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Bapi Mahato was one of the key accused for whom the CBI had announced a reward of Rs.1 lakh for information leading to his capture. He was arrested Sunday.

A joint team comprising the state police and CBI officials raided some places in Kharagpur in the district and Mantu was arrested from an abandoned house in the remotest corner of a leper colony.

“Mantu has been arrested and he will be produced before the Jhargram Court Wednesday,” the CBI officer said.