Kolkata: The Minister of State for Railways, Adhir Chowdhury, on Thursday blamed the `failure` of law and order in Bihar for the armed attack by the Maoists on the Dhanbad-Patna Inter-city Express in Jamui district.
"Law and order is the responsibility of the states where trains pass through. There were about 100-150 Maoists involved in the attack. So many Maoist gathered, what were the police doing? It was an intelligence failure and failure of the state`s law and order," Chowdhury told a TV news channel.
Stating that the RFP personnel fought bravely against the Maoists, he said "What could have happened had the RPF not resisted the attack? It could have been a bigger mishap."
He said that Maoists had influence in the area where the attack took place and they took advantage of the slow movement of the train.
He claimed that the the Maoists were being cornered because of the offensive by central forces and were trying to create panic and attacking `soft targets` to divert attention.
Meanwhile, security was tightened in the entire Asansol division of the Eastern Railway and additional armed escorts provided in eight long-distance trains passing through, Railway sources said
Additional escorts were provided in the Punjab Mail, Kathgudam Express and Muzaffarpur Fast Passenger and others in view of the Maoist attack, the sources said adding that security was also strengthened in important stations in Asansol division.
A South Eastern Railway spokesman said that security was tight in trains passing through Maoist areas in SER`s jurisdiction and an alert has been sounded.
PTI
