ISI behind Kanpur train accident: Three held, say Bihar police

MOTIHARI: Bihar police on Tuesday claimed to have unearthed a suspected ISI link to target the railways with arrest of three persons in East Champaran district of the state. Police claimed the trio had confessed to having worked for a Nepalese contact suspected to be connected to Pakistan's ISI to target the railways. District Superintendent of Police Jitendra Rana told reporters here that Moti Paswan, Uma Shankar Patel and Mukesh Yadav were arrested from Adapur Police Station area of the district. The three are "professional criminals" allegedly involved in more than a dozen criminal cases, he said. During interrogation, police claimed they confessed to having been paid Rs three lakh by a Nepali citizen identified as Brajesh Giri allegedly connected with the ISI for planting a bomb on railway tracks at Ghorasahan in East Champaran district in October 1 last year to cause an accident. "Fortunately, the bomb was detected with the help of villagers at Ghorasan and defused which prevented the sinister designs of the terror elements," Rana said. While three persons were arrested from East Champaran district, three others have been nabbed at Tailaya in Nepal for targeting railways on behalf of suspected terror elements in this country, he said. Efforts are on to arrest in this connection two others identified as Gajendra Sharma and Rakesh Yadav who are "hiding" in East Champaran area, he said. Rana said the anti-terrorism squad and other security agencies have been informed about the confession made by the three men who are being interrogated for more details to ascertain if the gang had any role in train accidents in Kanpur and elsewhere. East Champaran is a district bordering Nepal and Indian Mujahideen chief Yasin Bhatkal was arrested from Raxaul in the district in August 2013.