Siliguri, July 9: The long wait by a few families for the compensation announced by the Bengal government after a bomb last on a train in Jalpaiguri district in November 2006 ended today.

On November 20, 2006, when the Haldibari-New Jalpaiguri passenger reached Belakoba around 5.45pm, a powerful blast ripped apart a compartment. The blast, which forensic experts later said, was caused by an Improvised Explosive Device and suspected to have been planted by the militants of the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation.

Eight persons died and 19 were injured in the explosion. Belakoba is located 25km from here.

The government announced Rs 1 lakh for the next of kin of those who died and Rs 25,000 for the injured.

At a programme organised at Jalpaiguri collectorate, Rs 1 lakh was handed over to the next of kin of six deceased and Rs 25,000 each to 12 injured persons. N.G Heera, the additional district magistrate of Jalpaiguri, was present.

Soma Saha, a resident of Ghughumali near Siliguri, received Rs 2 lakh. Her husband Shankar and 12-year-old daughter Sonali had died in the blast.

“We had returned from Cooch Behar and were travelling on the train. I can never forget the blast that changed my life,” she said. “It was an irreparable loss which I and my son will live through. But even then, everybody has financial needs and that is why I have come here to receive the compensation.”

The woman and her son Ajay escaped the blast with minor injuries.

Among those who came to collect the cheques included Rama Bhattacharya. The blast had killed her husband Sadhan Bhattacharya.

The woman, a resident of Bhaktinagar, said she had also received Rs 4 lakh as compensation from the railways about one-and-a-half years back.

The relatives of other deceased, however, said the railways had not paid them a single paise. “We have been running from pillar to post to get the compensation announced by the railways and the state government,” said Chanchala Devi Paswan, who lost her husband Ram Chandra in the tragedy.

“He was the sole earning member of the family and I find it extremely difficult to manage the things. The government has at last fulfilled the promise, but the railways have not paid a single penny.”

The family members of two deceased — Safikul Mohammad and Gopal Das — and nine injured persons did not turn up to receive the compensation.

“Because of some formalities, it took 32 months to disburse the money,” said Heera

Officials of the North-east Frontier Railway (NFR), headquartered at Maligaon in Assam, were unable to say whether the compensation had been paid or not. “Since the blast took place almost three years ago, we need to cross-check to find out the truth,” S. Hajong, the chief public relations officer of the NFR, told The Telegraph over the phone from Maligaon.