Opposition leader in the West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday alleged that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) was behind the Odisha train accident that left nearly 300 people dead and injured over 1000 on June 2.

This comes a day after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed doubts over the Centre for seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the accident.

The Chief Minister had said that it was Railway Safety Commission, which usually probes these incidents, and the CBI investigation was dubious.

“People should know the truth, and this is not the time to suppress it… As railway minister, I had given CBI the responsibility to probe (2010) the Jnaneswari Express accident, but there has not been any headway in the investigation even after 12 years later,” said Banerjee.

Reacting to Banerjee’s charge, Adhikari said: “This incident (Odisha train accident) is TMC’s conspiracy. They are behind it,” Adhikari alleged.

“Why have they been panicking so much since yesterday when this incident is from Odisha? Why are they afraid of the CBI investigation?” he asked.

Referring to a purported audio clip of a conversation between two railway officials, which TMC leader Kunal Ghosh shared on Twitter on Sunday, the BJP leader added that the TMC tapped the phone of railway officials.

The clip had one person stating that the report was a bit contradictory. The other person on the line, identified as deputy CSO (traffic), South Eastern Railway Ashok Agarwal, said it was a preliminary report based on ground evidence and not everything was clear at that time.

“How did the conversation between two railway officials reach the TMC should also be probed,” he added.

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“To link the TMC with the railway accident near Balasore is preposterous. I totally condemn Suvendu Adhikari’s comments,” TMC MP Saugata Roy told news agency PTI.

After the tragic collision of three trains in Odisha’s Balasore district, the TMC accused the central government of disregarding passenger safety while demanding the resignation of railway minister Ashwani Vaishnaw.

So far, 90 people from West Bengal have been killed in the accident and 73 have been brought back to the state, Banerjee said on Monday.

Meanwhile, Banerjee is likely to meet the injured in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar hospitals on Tuesday, accompanied by state ministers Chandrima Bhattacharya and Shashi Panja. She has also promised jobs to the kin of the deceased.