Author: Correspondent
Publication: The Telegraph
Date: November 23, 2006
URL: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1061123/asp/siliguri/story_7038436.asp
State transport and sports minister Subhas
Chakraborty raised a security alarm here today. RDX was suspected to have
been used in the Monday blast, Chakraborty said after a visit to the Belakoba
station this morning.
"Reports submitted by separate security
agencies to the state government indicate that explosives like RDX might have
been used," he said. "Both the state and the Centre are exchanging
information before the final result."
Worried over the present state of affairs
of the region, Chakraborty said: "North Bengal is getting restless again
and we need to check such incidents." He and PWD minister of state Manohar
Tirkey, also visited North Bengal Medical College and Hospital and Jalpaiguri
Sadar Hospital.
"We have to identity those who engineered
the blast that killed so many innocent people," he said. "Going
back to Calcutta, I will submit a report to the chief minister."
Not satisfied with the low ex-gratia declared
by the railway authorities, the minister said he would ask the Prime Minister
to declare more compensation for the kin of the deceased and for the injured.
Chairman of the state committee of the Forward
Bloc Kamal Guha demanded immediate closure of the Tin Bigha corridor. "Everyone
has realised that the terrorists are trained in Bangladesh. I had warned Jyoti
Basu that the Tin Bigha corridor would prove to be disastrous," Guha
said.
Hiten Burman, the Forward Bloc MP from Cooch
Behar, who also visited Belakoba, raised a demand for compensation to the
tune of at least Rs 1 lakh for the next of kin of the deceased along with
jobs.
The traders here carried on with their business.
"We don't think that such an event can hamper trade," said Biswajit
Das, the secretary of Focin. Kamal Mittal, the chairman of the north Bengal
zonal council of the CII, however, said: "Such incidents leave an impact
on the confidence of entrepreneurs."
