Pre-Independence day violence in Assam, blast on rly track

Pre-Independence day violence in Assam, blast on rly track
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

GUWAHATI, JULY 30: In Pre-Independence day violence in Assam, a powerful bomb -- planted by militants -- exploded in the area damaging a cement-laden goods train in Kamrup district early today, minutes before five passenger trains were to cross, a North-East Frontier railway spokesman said.

However, no casualty was reported in the incident which took place between Ghagrapar and Rangiya at 5:10 am, before the scheduled Delhi-bound Rajdhani Express, Guwahati-bound Avadh-Assam mail and Chennai mail, Kanchenjunga Express and a local passenger train were to cross.

The blast derailed the engine and 12 bogies of the goods train proceeding from Satna in Madhya Pradesh to Guwahati, the spokesman said. 200 metre track of the broadgauge line falling under Alipurduar division of N-F railways was damaged under the impact of the blast, which left a 10-metre wide and five-metre deep crater at the site, he said.

As restoration of the damaged tracks would require about 20 hours, arrangements are being made to tranport the passengers by trains and buses, the spokesman said and added the Rajdhani Express along with some other trains would be rescheduled.

Senior railway officials rushed to the site from the N-F railway headquarters here and Alipurduar division. Police said the identity of the militants suspected to be behind the blast could not be immediately established as both outlawed ULFA and National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) were active in the area. Both Army and police rushed to the site and cordoned off the area. A massive search operation to track the culprits has been launched, the police said.

Militants in Assam had last targeted trains when they planted a bomb between Sungajan and Bokajan in central Assam on January 19 early this year, derailing a coal-laden goods train.