Families flee as police theory of ISI link to Kanpur train derailments flounders

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On Monday, The Indian Express reported that Motilal, who was arrested last week in Bihar along with Rakesh Yadav and Umashanker Patel, had changed his earlier confession to planting bombs on railway tracks to cause derailments of the two trains in Kanpur Dehat district. The NIA too has disputed this theory, while Uttar Pradesh ATS IG Assem Arun admitted they have found nothing so far to “corrobate Paswan’s (earlier) statement”.

The news hasn’t reached Ramjani, who is worried police may arrest more family members and that Motilal may not make it out this time, with a murder case too slapped against him. Ramjani’s husband Girdhar Paswan is a daily wager, who earns 6 kg paddy (worth Rs 80) for the occasional day’s work.

Mother of arrested Motilal Paswan (Express photo: Santosh Singh)

Four of their six sons are dead, of various illnesses. The youngest, Sonalal, 21, has been working as a dancer at Pipra town of Motihari since the age of 11, and his troupe earns Rs 4,000-Rs 5,000 per night in the peak wedding season.

Motilal was the most educated of all his brothers, but didn’t clear his Class X. Since the suspected ISI link, police have been coming regularly to the village, and relatives and neighours have distanced themselves from the Paswans.

A village with several OBC and Scheduled Castes, mainly Paswan, Lohar and Yadav, Bakhri is located barely 5 km from Sanfulwa border adjoining Bara district of Nepal. Chhauradano near Bakhri is the biggest market both for locals and for people from Nepal.

Villagers say barely 10 per cent of the 3,000-odd population of Bakhri have jobs, the senior-most being that of a station master outside Bihar, held by Ashok Kumar. Agriculture is the main occupation, with many villagers working as either share-croppers or daily wagers.

Villagers believe the local youths including Motilal and co-accused Mukesh Yadav were led astray after coming under the influence of Maoist groups. “Moti and Mukesh are fast friends, would wear similar shirts, belts and shoes,” says one.

Motilal has four dacoity and extortion cases against him at Chhauradano, Muffasil, Darpa and Town police stations, including theft at a farmhouse owned by the family of the first Bihar chief minister, Krishna Singh. Motilal also faces charges under the Arms Act. Villagers say he has been involved in petty crimes for eight years.

The last time Motilal was released on bail was on October 1, 2016, the same day he and his associates allegedly tried to blow up the railway track at Ghodasahan, on the Raxaul-Sitamarhi route.

It was the recovery of a 6 kg cooker bomb at Ghodasahan that set the East Champaran Police on their trail. Police suspect that the six arrested and the two absconding have links to Dubai-based businessman Shamshul Hoda, with alleged ties to the ISI.

Mother of slain Deepak Ram, Sudamia Devi (Express photo: Deepak Agnirath )

The Bihar Police claimed that they, excluding Motilal, had confessed to killing two others, Arun Ram and Deepak Ram, for failing to carry out another train attack, that had been assigned to them by their Nepal bosses. And that Motilal had later confessed to carrying out the Kanpur attacks when he, Rakesh and Umashankar were being interrogated in connection with the murders of Arun and Deepak. While Motilal was not named in the Ghodasahan railway track bomb-planting , he is a co-accused in the twin murder case.

The son of a daily wager, 24-year-old Mukesh studied only till Class 9 and spent most of his time at his maternal village of Jhitkihiya nearby. His two younger siblings go to school.

The family has locked up its mud-and-tile home and gone away since police came knocking. The third person charged in the case, Gajendra Sharma, 26, runs ‘Dangal Music Recording Studio’ at Ghodasahan, barely 250 metres from the railway track where the bomb was found on October 1. Neighbours say he came to the village once after police started looking for him. He has been absconding since.

At his studio, Gajendra made videos and music albums for elections, and reportedly did good business in last year’s panchayat elections. His family says the Class 12 pass, who started out singing at rati jagrans about five years ago, earning Rs 400-500 a night, also worked as a radio jockey with Nepali and Bhojpuri FM radio, and had been trying his luck as a Bhojpuri singer.

Gajendra’s father Hriday Narayan Sharma is a blacksmith, selling agricultural implements at the local market. His brothers Upendra Thakur and Jitendra Thakur run a lathe machine and tractor. But again there is no one from the family at the mud-and-brick house in Bakhri since news of the charges against him.

Rakesh Yadav, who is also absconding, is the son of Shivnath Rai, who has a one and a half bigha agricultural land in Bakhri. His elder brother Chandrakeshwar Yadav is a tractor driver and younger Rajesh is a daily wager. Rakesh studied till Class 9.

His family too has left the village since news broke.

The families of 25-year-old Arun Ram and Deepak Ram, 18, alleged to have been killed by Motilal and the others, deny that they had been roped in by the ISI to carry out train attacks, and killed for failing to carry one out.

The two belonged to Lakshmipur Pokharia village, about 20 km from Bakhri, and were found dead in Nepal jungles in December last week. While Arun, who suffered a mild paralyatic attack a year ago, did odd jobs in the village to support his family, including a two-year-old son, Deepak worked as a carpenter in Kathmandu and had got married to a Nepali girl last year.

Arun’s late father Rudal Ram worked in a colliery and the family, that owns 1 bigha land, is among the better off in the village. However, despite his best efforts, Arun, his only son, studied till just Class 9.

Deepar’s father Paras Ram is a home guard.

Says Sudamia Devi, mother of Deepak, “Arun came to our village with his wife on Dussehra and stayed back. On December 25, the two left for neighbouring Champapur village saying they were going to repair solar batteries. When they did not return for three days, we lodged a case. Arun and Deepak were not involved in any case and might have become the victim of some conspiracy.”

Solar lights put up at several villages under government schemes run on batteries. Arun, who was good with mechanical jobs, often got called from neighbouring areas for repairing the batteries.

A resident of Gamharia in Raxaul, 55 km from Motihari, Umashankar Patel, among the three arrested, worked as a small-time contractor and has been accused of petty crimes along the Raxaul border. Patel was allegedly in direct contact with Brijkishore Giri, the Nepal link in the case, besides Gajendra Sharma. Patel and Sharma reportedly lured Motilal, Mukesh, Rakesh, Anil Ram and Deepak Ram into Giri’s gang.