Standoff overshadows Mamata protest plan
Mamata had called on the home minister to highlight the plight of the abducted cops’ families after West Bengal CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s remarks last week created confusion over whether they were dead.
By Mohua Chatterjee, TNN |
NEW DELHI: On a day that railway minister Mamata Banerjee met home minister P Chidambaram accompanied by family members of the two policemen abducted by Maoists from Lalgarh on July 30, the abduction of a train driver in Bengal put the Trinamool chief on the backfoot as far as dealing with Maoists was concerned.
Mamata had called on the home minister to highlight the plight of the abducted cops��� families after West Bengal CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee���s remarks last week created confusion over whether they were dead. Bhattacharjee had first declared that the two policemen ��� Kanchan Garai and Sabir Ali Molla ��� were killed and then reverted to the official position that ���search is on��� for them. The focus in the Capital on Tuesday shifted immediately from the appeal of the families of Garai and Molla to the hostage drama in Jhargram, with a Rajdhani Express full of passengers stranded.
The Trinamool leader���s effort to score over the Bengal CM on the Maoist issue fell through when news of the train crisis first reached her while she was addressing the media after her meeting with Chidambaram . She did not rule out a ���conspiracy��� , it is learnt. However, Mamata said she would not make any political statement as her first priority was to ensure the safety of the stranded passengers.
Though the crisis was resolved fairly early, the hostage drama left the TMC chief with the lesson that Maoists could even point the gun at her if necessary.
Mamata had called on the home minister to highlight the plight of the abducted cops��� families after West Bengal CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee���s remarks last week created confusion over whether they were dead. Bhattacharjee had first declared that the two policemen ��� Kanchan Garai and Sabir Ali Molla ��� were killed and then reverted to the official position that ���search is on��� for them. The focus in the Capital on Tuesday shifted immediately from the appeal of the families of Garai and Molla to the hostage drama in Jhargram, with a Rajdhani Express full of passengers stranded.
The Trinamool leader���s effort to score over the Bengal CM on the Maoist issue fell through when news of the train crisis first reached her while she was addressing the media after her meeting with Chidambaram . She did not rule out a ���conspiracy��� , it is learnt. However, Mamata said she would not make any political statement as her first priority was to ensure the safety of the stranded passengers.
Though the crisis was resolved fairly early, the hostage drama left the TMC chief with the lesson that Maoists could even point the gun at her if necessary.
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