Rajdhani leaves after detention by Maoists

The Bhubaneswar-Delhi Rajdhani Express held up by a pro-Maoist group in West Bengal's West Midnapore district left tonight after detention of seven and half hours and would be escorted by CRPF to the n national capital, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee said.

The Bhubaneswar-Delhi Rajdhani Express held up by a pro-Maoist group in West Bengal's West Midnapore district left tonight after detention of seven and half hours and would be escorted by CRPF to the n national capital, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee said.

HT Image

"The train has left with a pilot engine in the vanguard. The CRPF will escort the train to Delhi," the Railway Minister told PTI from New Delhi.

Since many of the passengers went through a traumatic experience, doctors are on board the train, she said.

"Food and drinking water have been brought from the Kharagpur station and more would be picked up from Tatanagar station since most of the eatables were looted from the pantry car by the agitators," she said.

"This is a special train. It is not a regular train. This train should not have been stopped. It is not proper to play with the lives of people," she said.

A relief train earlier reached the area at 4:30pm but had to wait for security clearance to reach the spot," she said.