It was the main item on the agenda when the railways held a meeting with state home secretaries in January this year — the growing Naxal threat faced by the Indian Railways. An item in which the railways had clearly said that not only was it a “soft” target for Left-wing extremists, but also that the attacks against it by the Maoists were increasing.
As per the statistics on Naxal attacks available with the railways, during 2009 there were 58 cases involving Left-wing extremists in the five states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh. This year until May 20, there have been 32 instances already of Maoist strikes, ranging from the blowing up of railway tracks to their sabotage.
A senior railway official with over three decades in the railways remarked, “In the last six months alone there have been five to six Maoist attacks. The Sardiha accident was a major catastrophe. We’re very worried as so many people have died.”
While stating that only a CBI probe will be able to identify the actual cause of the accident, the official also said that the railways had intelligence reports that the Maoists would try and derail a train.
And yet, the clear and present danger posed by the Maoists to both the railways and passengers does not seem to have been taken seriously by the states as is evident in the train derailment, allegedly triggered by Maoists. West Bengal was among the three states — the other two were Orissa and Jharkhand — that had been flagged for discussion at the state home secretaries’ meeting.