The CBI has rewarded the West Bengal police with Rs.1 lakh for arresting Bapi Mahato – one of the three main accused in the derailment of the Jnaneswari Express on May 28. One hundred and fifty people were killed when a goods train rammed the derailed train.
Mahato was arrested by a joint team of the West Bengal and Jharkhand police from a lodge at Jamshedpur on Sunday. His distant cousin, Bimal Mahato, was also arrested. The police tracked him by intercepting his phone calls.
The CBI had announced the reward to anyone who provided information about Mahato
CBI spokesperson Harsh Bhal told The Hindu from New Delhi, “The CBI has placed the reward of Rs. 1 lakh at the disposal of the West Bengal DGP in connection with the arrest of Mahato.”
West Bengal Director General of Police Bhupinder Singh said the amount would be divided among “those police officials involved in the operation.”
Mahato was flown in a helicopter to Midnapore on Monday after the CBI secured his 24-hour-transit remand from a court at Saraikella. He will be produced at a Jhargram court on Tuesday where the CBI will seek his custody.
The CBI had charged him under Sections 16 and 18 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act as well as various sections of the Indian Railway Act, Indian Penal Code and the Explosive Substances Act.
