Five killed, 50 injured in Bengal train blast
Nov 21, 2006 - 4:17:01 AM
, Reviewed by: Priya Saxena
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The ruling Left Front has called for protest rallies to decry the blast, its chairman Biman Bose said.
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By Indo Asian News Service,
[RxPG] Jalpaiguri, Nov 20 (IANS) At least five people were killed and over 50 injured Monday in a powerful explosion triggered by suspected terrorists in a train in West Bengal.
Inspector General of Police (North Bengal) K.L. Meena said five people died and over 50 injured in the blast that ripped through the second compartment of the Haldibari-New Jalpaiguri passenger train at the Belakoba station in Jalpaiguri district.
Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) Raj Kanojia told IANS that some charred bodies were recovered from the compartment while many injured were hospitalised.
Belakoba is 615 km north of Kolkata and 15 km from New Jalpaiguri.
The explosion occurred near the toilet of the coach at 6.30 p.m. on the train, which carries coaches from Cooch Behar district's Haldibari to join with the Kolkata-bound Darjeeling Mail at the New Jalpaiguri station, the gateway to the northeast.
West Bengal Backward Class Minister and local legislator Jogesh Burman, who was to board the Darjeeling Mail from New Jalpaiguri, said militant organisation Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO) was suspected to have triggered the blast.
The KLO, an extremist group, is said to be active in this area besides several Bodo groups and the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA). Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is also said to be active there.
State Home Secretary Prasad Ranjan Roy said it was a powerful explosion and unprecedented in the state.
'We cannot say now who are behind it but it is definitely some terrorist outfit which triggered the blast,' Roy said in Kolkata.
The injured were taken to the Jalpaiguri district hospital and other health centres.
Police suspected that the bombs were meant to explode at the New Jalpaiguri railway station, from where many people were likely to have boarded the coach in which the explosion occurred.
The train was late and so the blast occurred before it reached the station.
The ruling Left Front has called for protest rallies to decry the blast, its chairman Biman Bose said.
At least 10 people, including army soldiers, were killed and more than 80 were injured when a bomb exploded on June 22, 1999 at New Jalpaiguri station.
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