Kolkata: Top Maoist leader Kishenji Tuesday
claimed that his oufit was not involved in the May 28
Jnaneswari Express disaster in West Midnapore district that
claimed 148 lives.
"We are not involved in the derailment of the
Jnaneswari Express. We have no relation with the people who
have done it," Kishenji said from an undisclosed location.
When pointed out that police was accusing Maoists for
the mishap, he said, "We have said earlier that we were not
involved in the accident. The police can cook up their own
stories.
"We are fighting for the people and we will not do
anything at their cost," said the Maoist Politburo member, who
has remained incommunicado for a month with the police
claiming that he was injured in the Hatiloth forest encounter
on March 25 and was hiding somewhere in West Midnapore
district.
On June 19, West Midnapore Superintendent of Police,
Manoj Verma had said that Kishenji was hiding with senior
leader Bikash and woman leader Tara, who was believed to have
led the Maoists who raided the Eastern Frontier Rifles camp at
Sildah on February 15 that left 24 personnel dead.
Earlier, after the arrest on June 20 of one of the
main accused in the train disaster, Bapi Mahto from a guest
house at Adityapur in Jharkhand's Sarikela-Kharswan district,
Maoist spokesman Akash had also claimed that Maoists did not
kill innocent people and were not involved. He had also said
that Mahto did not belong to the outfit.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, June 22, 2010, 16:01