Modi sees foreign hand in Kanpur rail accident

LOCATION OF GONDA, ALONG THE INDIANEPAL BORDER, PROBABLY PROMPTED PRIME MINISTER MODI TO CAUTION PEOPLE ABOUT CROSSBORDER CRIME

A previous technical assessment available with the NIA shows the train was travelling at 106 kmph but came to a complete halt within 14 seconds. Of the 23 coaches, seven derailed after its S-6 and S-7 compartments separated.

“There was a leakage of pressure vacuum because of the de-coupling, which triggered the brakes to clamp automatically. The train halted within 193 metres of the de-coupling in 14 seconds, and that’s pretty quick,” an NIA official said.

“By comparison, the Ajmer- Sealdah Express, which derailed on December 28 just 30km from the Patna-Indore train’s accident site, halted after travelling 550 metres.”

New Delhi has often accused Pakistani agencies of fomenting trouble in India through agents in Nepal, a charge denied by Islamabad.

The location of Gonda, along the India-Nepal border, probably prompted Prime Minister Modi to caution people about cross-border crime, underscoring the suspected foreign conspiracy in the Kanpur train tragedy.

“Gonda is adjoining Nepal ... Gonda needs to elect only those who are full of patriotism,” Modi said, asking people not to vote for those who help conspirators. “There should be no mistake in elections, whether it is the SP or BSP, none of them should win.”

The Centre has also asked the anti-terrorism agency to investigate the recovery of an unexploded bomb from railway tracks near Ghorasahan in Bihar last October, and the derailment of Hirakund Express in Andhra Pradesh this year.

Modi asked people to vote for the BJP, saying only a strong government at the Centre as well as the state could curb cross-border crime.