Friday, April 22 2005 11:29 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Ahmedabad: A three-member Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fact-finding team arrived in Ahmedabad today (Apr 22, 2005) to probe into yesterday's (Apr 21, 2005) rail mishap at Samalaya, near Vadodara, and also into the reasons behind provocation and assault on Union Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav, when he visited the accident spot.

"Our finding team will first make a spot visit to Samalaya to get details about the rail accident. We will also visit the SSG hospital (at Vadodara) to meet the injured passengers," senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi, who is heading the team, told sources in Ahmedabad.

"The team will also probe into the reasons behind Laloo Yadav's allegations that he was attacked with petrol bombs. What we want to know is the cause of the provocation behind the incident. It is important to know why did the people react in such a manner when the Railway Minister was visiting an accident site," Modi said.

The other team members are Rajya Sabha MP Kripal Parmar and Lok Sabha MP B P Singh and the team, on a daylong visit, will meet Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi after they return from Samalaya and Vadodara.

"We will give a detailed report to our party president L K Advani after returning to Delhi so that the party can tackle the issue properly in the Parliament," Modi added.

To a question if it is correct to turn the site of the accident - which killed 17 persons and left over 100 injured - into a political battleground, Modi said, "It is unfortunate that the turn of events has taken shape like this."

"But now, the reasons behind the incident should be probed as we heard that some Congress party workers were also present during his (Laloo's) visit."

Suspected BJP and Bajrang Dal activists had yesterday stoned Laloo's car and damaged it, for which he blamed Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi accusing him of trying to "eliminate" him.

The activists surrounded his car, whose windowpanes were broken in the stoning, and virtually 'gheraod' (surrounded) him when the Minister reached the SSG Hospital in Vadodara.