Left parties today condemned the "Maoist sabotage" which led to the train accident in West Bengal, castigated the Railway Ministry for violating safety policies and sought Prime Minister's intervention to ensure that Railways fulfil their responsibility.

Expressing shock at the tragic loss of lives in the "terrible train accident caused by sabotage by Maoists", the CPI(M) said this dastardly act was caused by extremists "who have once again demonstrated their utter contempt for human lives".

Demanding a thorough probe into the accident, it said "this terrible tragedy has been compounded by the irresponsible absence of due diligence on the part of the railway authorities".

Politburo member Sitaram Yechury asked why a pilot engine that should have preceded the passenger train to check safety of the track was not run and blamed the Railways for violating its own "declared policy to ensure specific safety measures in Maoist affected areas".

"The persistent denial of the existence of Maoist activities in West Bengal by the Railway Minister may have led to the lack of preparedness of the authorities," he said.

Demanding a thorough enquiry into the incident, the party said "the Prime Minister should personally intervene to ensure that Railways, in coordination with security agencies, fulfil their responsibility by stepping up precautionary safety measures to protect passengers and railway property in all Maoist affected areas".

Condemning the incident and tampering of the track, CPI National Secretary D Raja too demanded a thorough probe.

Referring to Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee's statement blaming the Left Front government in the state for the incident, Raja said "it is cheap politics. She should take the moral responsibility for what has happened.

"After all, she is responsible for railway safety. She cannot pass the buck."

Yechury said the number of railway accidents in the past five months were so high that nothing like this has ever happened in past 30 years in a single calendar year.

Maintaining that it was the responsibility of Railway Protection Force to protect railway property, he said if they they need more force, they should ask the state government.

"The state will definitely give them. But it cannot be given without asking for it. Today's is a big incident in which innocent people have lost their lives and several have sustained serious injuries. It is very important to ascertain why and how the incident occurred", Yechury said, raising questions like why a pilot engine was not run and how a goods train hit the derailed passenger train.