Kanpur train tragedy: NIA seeks Home Ministry's nod to probe Pakistan angle

The National Investigation Agency is looking into the claims of three arrested persons that the derailment of Indore-Patna express last year was carried out at the behest of Pakistan's ISI.

Delhi: With possible terror angle emerging in Kanpur train tragedy that occurred in November last year, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is looking into the claims of three arrested persons regarding the derailment of Indore-Patna express.

As per these persons, the train derailment was carried out at the behest of Pakistan's spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

The NIA has written to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) demanding that the case surrounding the Kanpur train tragedy be handed over to it for further probe, as per ANI.

The trio - Moti Paswan, Uma Shankar and Mukesh Yadav - were arrested earlier this week by police from East Champaran district of Bihar.

They had claimed to have got Rs 3 lakh to plant improvised explosive devices (IEDs) at Ghorasahan railway station under the district on October 1 last year. Bihar Police has reportedly recovered the IEDs.

The Home Ministry had yesterday sent a two-member NIA team to Motihari for investigation into the Bihar Police`s claims that the derailment of Indore-Patna Express was carried out at by a Nepal gang that has links with ISI.

The arrested persons have reportedly confessed about ISI's possible role in the last year's derailment. They also claimed to be working for the ISI, the sources said.

The Home Ministry has also sought reports from the Bihar government and central security agencies regarding the arrest and their disclosures to Bihar Police.

If the claim of the these accused turns out to be true, it would be the first such case of train derailment in India carried out at the behest of the Pakistani agency, they said.

A report is said to have come from Nepal confirming the Bihar Police's claim that Pakistan's ISI had paid Rs 30 lakh to its agent Brajesh Giri for triggering blasts on rail tracks targeting popular trains in Bihar, the sources said, as per PTI.

Central security agencies were now looking for two more persons identified as Gajendra Sharma and Rakesh Yadav in East Champaran area for their suspected links to the accused.

The ISI link to the November 20 train disaster was being suspected after the interrogation of the trio, police had said.

During interrogation, the three arrested persons provided some "positive lead" about the Indore-Patna express derailment in Kanpur, District Superintendent of Police Jitendra Rana had said.

At least 150 people were killed in the train tragedy.

(With Agency inputs)