Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP could be looking at some humiliation when it comes to claims of terror he made at an election rally in Uttar Pradesh recently. The UP Railway Police chief refuted Modi's claims that the Kanpur rail accident was an act of terror. It now remains to be seen how the BSP and the SP-Congress combine manage to weaponise this development in order to gain political mileage.
Also read: Nepal: ISI agent Shamsul Hoda, accused in Bihar and Kanpur derailments, arrested
What PM Modi claimed
Modi had, while addressing an election rally in Gonda in the run-up to the UP Assembly elections, said: "The Kanpur rail accident, in which hundreds of people were killed, was a conspiracy and the conspirators carried it out sitting across the border. Gonda is adjoining Nepal. If the cross-border foes want to carry out their work, is it not necessary that more vigil is maintained in Gonda?"
He had gone on to add: "Gonda needs to elect only those who are full of patriotism. Only then can we do anything good for Gonda. There should not be any mistake in this election, be it the Samajwadi Party or the Bahujan Samaj Party, not a single seat should go to them. Hundred percent seats should be won by the BJP."
The contradiction
Uttar Pradesh Police (Railways) Director General Gopal Gupta, while speaking at a video conference arranged for by Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, said not only was this not an act of terrorism, but also that no trace of any explosive had been found at the spot. He posited that the derailment, which led to 140 deaths, could have occurred due to "fatigue of railway tracks."
So what happens to Shamsul Hoda, who is accused of orchestrating this derailment and other, similar accidents, and who was arrested from Nepal? It depends on what the probes into the other incidents reveal. At least till then, he is in the custody of the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
