Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Sunday termed the blasting of a railway track near Villupuram as an "attempted act of extremism" and expressed confidence that the Tamil Nadu Police will arrest the culprits soon.
Suspected pro-LTTE elements had blasted the track near Perani station in Villupuram district in the wee hours of Saturday. Leaflets protesting Sri Lanakn President Mahinda Rajapaksa's visit to India last week were found at the site.
"It is an attempted act of extremism. Alert railway officials averted a major disaster. Police and intelligence agencies are working together to nab the culprits and I am confident that the state police will arrest the accused soon," Chidambaram told reporters in Chennai after meeting Chief Minister M Karunanidhi to apprise him of Rajapaksa's visit.
Passengers of the Tiruchirapalli-Chennai Rockfort Express had a narrow escape when the driver stopped the train in time after being alerted about the breach on the rail track by the station master.
On Sri Lankan Tamils issue, Chidambaram said India will grant Rs 1000 crore towards construction of 50,000 houses for displaced Tamils at the rate of Rs two lakh per house.
He said this amount will not be given to the Sri Lankan government but would be disbursed through banks to respective family heads and the governments of both countries were working out the modalities in this regard.
He also said Colombo has promised to resettle the ethnic Tamils staying in camps since the end of the war against LTTE in another three to six months. PTI
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