Bomb found in a toilet of Sampark Kranti train, no casualties

A high intensity sophisticated bomb was found in a sleeper coach of Delhi-bound Manikpur-Hazrat Nizamuddin Express at Mahoba railway station in Uttar Pradesh and was later defused, officials said here on Thursday.

"A high intensity bomb was recovered from S-2 coach of the Sampark Kranti train at Mahoba railway station last night," Principal Secretary (Home) Kunwar Fateh Bahadur and Director General of Police Karamveer Singh told reporters.

When the train reached Mahoba railway station, passengers raised an alarm that a bomb like device has been planted in the toilet of the coach, Bahadur said. "The coach and the platform was immediately evicted and the bogie was detached from the train," he said.

A PAC bomb disposal squad recovered the bomb, which weighed around 1.5 kg to two kg and defused it in an open area On Thursday morning, he said. "The bomb was prepared in a manner that it could not be opened," the DGP said. As per the details provided by the bomb disposal squad, the device contained wires, a nine volt battery, an electrical circuit and a condenser used in transistors, he said.

"Though it was not a timer device, but had an on-off switch, which if touched could have resulted in an untoward incident," the DGP said, adding some bomb pieces have been sent to Forensic Science Laboratory for testing. "We will contact Bomb Data Centre of NSG to get further details about the device," he said.

The train later left for Hazrat Nizamuddin after the S-2 coach was detached, Bahadur said. A case has been lodged with Mahoba Government Railway Police under Explosive Act against unidentified persons.

On being asked whether it was a handiwork of Naxalites or terrorists, the DGP said that the police was not suspecting anybody as of now and was investigating the case. "We are not suspecting anybody, but are trying to trace those who planted the bomb," he said.

He said that investigations were being carried out in Manikpur, Karvi, Banda and Mahoba.