Triggering panic among passengers of the Ernakulam-Thiruvananthapuram Vanchinadu Express , a bag containing explosive materials was recovered from the train that arrived at the Mavelikara Railway Station at 7.10 a.m. on Thursday.
According to the police, passengers in the general compartment of the train noticed the bag kept on a seat and when the wires and a suspicious looking packet in the bag were spotted, panic spread. The railway police was called in and the bag was removed from the train, which then resumed its journey. Both the railway police and the State police are probing the incident.
Alappuzha Superintendent of Police A. Akbar said the bag contained two detonators, two aluminum wires of about one and a half metres each, and a stick of Neo Gel-90, an ammonium nitrate-based slurry and emulsifier commercial explosive that is usually used for blasting and mining purposes.
The 1.25-kg Neo Gel stick was wrapped in a brown paper that had the manufacturer’s name, Amin Explosives Private Limited, Nagpur, printed on it. Though the police believe it could have been left behind by quarry workers, they are not ruling out any other possibility since Neo Gel-90 was found to be part of the explosives used in the 2007 twin blasts in Hyderabad. Remains of the same explosive were recovered from about 30 spots in the Cheriyathura region of Thiruvananthapuram by Crime Branch and forensic sleuths after explosions that occurred during clashes between two communities there in May last year.
“An investigation to trace the bag’s origin is on. As of now, we are not in a position to say anything further,” Mr. Akbar told The Hindu .
