Bomb scare disrupts train services in West Bengal

KOLKATA - Train services in the Kharagpur-Adra section in West Bengal were disrupted for over four hours Monday after a tiffin box fitted with wires was found on the railway tracks in West Midnapore district. No explosives were found in the tiffin box.

“Villagers noticed the tiffin box fitted with wires on the tracks at Atabandh village between Garbeta and Chandrakona stations early in the morning and informed the nearby station master of Garbeta station,” said a South Eastern Railway official.

“The Assansol passenger train, which was about to pass through Atabandh station around 7 a.m. was stopped a few metres ahead of the spot. Train services on both up and down lines in that section were suspended following the landmine scare,” said the official.

Train services were resumed after a bomb disposal squad found no explosive device in the tiffin box.

A.K. Krakar, divisional railway manager of Adra, told IANS: “Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel, police and bomb squad personnel were rushed to the spot. After getting the clearance from the security personnel, train services were resumed on that section.”

The Siromoni Passenger, Purulia Express and a few other trains were detained at various stations after the suspicious object was discovered.

Night movement of passenger trains has been suspended in Kharagpur-Adra, Kharagpur-Tatanagar and Kharagpur-Rourkella sections of the South Eastern Railway following the May 28 Gyaneshwari Express tragedy, in which 148 passengers were killed.

All the three sections were declared vulnerable to Maoist attackS, as these sections pass through Maoist-affected areas of the state.

The Left rebels are active in three western districts of the state - West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia.