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New Delhi:In a suspected terror attack, two bogies of Samjhauta Express caught fire near Panipat district at around 2315 hrs, IST on Sunday, leaving 64 people dead and over 50 injured.
The fire broke out in the train at Shiva Village under Chandni Bagh police station in Panipat district, about 100 kilometre from Delhi. The train also called Attari Express was travelling from Delhi to Lahore via Attari.
The injured persons have been admitted to nearby Civil hospital. Initial investigations reveal that cause of fire could be explosives.
Two live bombs have been recovered from the train which were diffused by security personnel.
“We are conducting an enquiry into the incident. Arms and explosives have been recovered from the site. Unwanted elements are trying to disturb the peace process between two nations. I am rushing to the spot,” said Union Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav.
The bi-weekly train had left the Old Delhi Railway Station at 22:40 hrs, IST on Sunday. The fire was noticed in the last two bogies of the train when it reached the railway crossing near the village. Eye witnesses say they heard an explosion before the train caught fire.
Rescue operations
Soon after the incident, police launched rescue operations in association with the Railway police and bomb disposal squad.
The charred bogies were separated from the train after the fire was extinguished by fire tenders from the district and the Indian Oil refinery.
After separation of the two bogies, the train, left for its destination at about 0300 hrs, IST.
Planned terror attack?
Northern Railway General Manger V N Mathur, who reached the spot from Delhi, said that two suitcases were recovered from the spot - one from the rail track and one from the train.
"This looks like a case of sabotage. Two suitcases with live bombs have been recovered from the site," he told.
Both the suitcases contained IEDs - one of them also had incendiary material, either kerosene or petrol, he said.
He added that a forensic team of the Haryana government and an enquiry panel of the Northern Railways have reached site.
He said he had talked to the gateman near Deewana station who told him that he had heard two "distinct explosions".
However, Home Secretary V K Duggal did not confirm that the explosion was set off by IEDs in two coaches. “There was no specific information about the incident prior to the mishap. We are just leaving for the site and we will know details of the incident only then."
"Sabotage cannot be ruled out but I have not received any such report. If it was an IED blast, the loss would have been bigger so it does not look like it was an IED blast,” said Duggal.
Officials visit blast site
Laloo Prasad Yadav and Home Minister Shivraj Patil are on their way to Panipat, accompanied by Duggal and Director General of National Security Guards J K Dutt, official sources said.
A team of NSG bomb squad was also being dispatched to the site along with personnel of National Disaster Response Force.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi expressed condolences to the families of the victims of the fire.
Impact on Indo-Pak relations
Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon has said visas for relatives of Pakistani victims will be granted immediately. “India is doing everything to help Pakistan in this tragedy. We brought the victims to the Safdargjung hospital. But it’s too early to comment of the incident was an act of terrorism," he added.
Pakistan is to issue a statement shortly to condemn the incident. It sees the blast as a terrorist act, meant to disrupt the Indo-Pak peace process.
But the country reassured India that the peace process is on track and will not be disrupted by terrorist incidents. The Pakistani High Commission will send an official to the blast site shortly.
However, the timing of the Samjhauta blasts is significant as Pakistan Foreign Affairs Minister Khursheed Mahmoud Kasuri is scheduled to visit India in a couple of days.
Moreover, India has recently asked Pakistan to relax visa restrictions and now it remains to be seen whether Pakistan will fall in sync with India's demands.
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