Powerful bomb on Assam train triggers scare

Guwahati: Hundreds of passengers of the Guwahati-bound Alipurduar-Kamakhya Intercity Express had a narrow escape on Monday morning when security forces found a huge bomb in one of the coaches of the train.
This comes close on the heels of a grenade blast at Rajgarh in Dibrugarh district on Sunday in which two persons were killed.
The bomb, concealed in a plastic bag, was spotted in a general coach by security forces on duty after the train crossed the Rangiya junction at 10.55 am. The explosive, an IED, was covered with a gamosa (towel) and wires were sticking out. It was kept in front of the compartment’s toilet.
“The bag was spotted when the train was about to reach Kendukona railway station in Rangiya sub-division of Kamrup district. Immediately, security forces alerted the Kendukona station master and the train was halted,” said a GTP official.
NF Railway public relations official N Bhattacharjee said the train was delayed for over an hour because of the incident.
“After the train was halted, GRP and Railway Protection Force (RPF) sleuths reached the spot. The passengers were disembarked and then the explosive was unloaded from the train at 11.55 am. Later, the train resumed its journey for Kamakhya at 12.13 pm,” the NF Railway PRO said.
Subsequently, the bomb squad of the Army’s Red Horns division reached the spot. “It was an IED weighing around 8 to 10 kilos. Our bomb squad took the explosive to an open field and defused it in the evening,” Lt Colonel Suneet Newton, public relations officer (Defence), said.