Chapra, June 25
At least four passengers were killed and 23 others injured, 13 of them seriously, when 12 coaches of the Dibrugarh-bound Rajdhani Express derailed near Chapra in Bihar's Saran district today, with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh saying it was too early to blame the Maoists for the incident.

Eighteen wagons of a goods train also derailed due to a blast in east Champaran district with the SP Vinay Kumar not ruling out the involvement of Maoists.

Chief public relations officer of the East Central Railway (ECR) Arvind Kumar Rajak said while three passengers were killed in the Rajdhani derailment, another succumbed to injuries in a hospital.

Seven coaches — B-5 to B-10 — and the power car of the Delhi-Dibrugarh Rajdhani derailed at the Golden Ganj station, about 75 km from Patna, while five coaches, B-1, B-2, B-3, B-4 and the pantry car overturned at 2.11 am. Rajak said some of the coaches were hurled as far as 700 feet away from the track.

The seriously injured passengers were taken to the Patna Medical College and Hospital, its principal Amarkant Jha Amar said. The rest were being treated at Chapra, he said.

Railway Minister Sadananda Gowda said, "As far as the Rajdhani derailment is concerned, investigations are on." The Railways, however, suspected sabotage by Maoists behind the derailment.

"Prima facie, it appears to be a case of sabotage. There was a blast on the track, which could have caused the derailment," Railway Board Chairman Arunendra Kumar said.

"Another goods train, 60 km away from the station, also got derailed due to a blast. Eighteen wagons got derailed in the accident," Kumar said.

The Maoists had given a bandh call during the day to protest action by security forces in the area, he said.

Three bombs were also recovered from the Dariapur bazaar area in the 
district and were being defused.

DIG, Saran Division, Binod Kumar said a Maoist hand behind the planting of bombs could not be ruled out.

Two teams of the National Disaster Response Force comprising 100 officials extricated three bodies from under the coaches. — PTI