A woman was killed and 14 others injured in two low intensity bomb blasts that happened on the Bangalore-Guwahati Express as it arrived Chennai central railway station on Thursday morning.
The blasts happened in the S4 and S5 coaches of the Bangalore-Guwahati Express of the train. The victim identified as Swathi (22) was reportedly sitting on the seat under which the bomb was placed. She was travelling to Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, reported the New Indian Express
Chennai: Visuals of the Bangalore-Guwahati Express train in which the blast took place pic.twitter.com/k1miewocgG
— ANI (@ANI_news) May 1, 2014
The incident took place when the train was approaching platform no 9 at the Chennai central station around 7.15 am. Police and the NSG team have rushed to the spot. "There were two separate blasts in the train. The entire police force is involved in the investigation," Southern Railways General Manager Rakesh Mishra told IBN Live.
The platform was cordoned off and security officials carried out searches inside the train to find if there were any more explosives. One suspect found hiding inside the train has been detained by the police.
"It is not a major blast. It is suspected that Chennai could not have been target of those who were behind the blast because the train was running late. Some other location could have been the target," Tamil Nadu DGP K Ramanujam was quoted as saying by the Times of India.
The injured were taken to the Rajiv Gandhi Government Hospital and they are said to be in stable condition. They have been identified as Suman 37, Saifulla 27, Anjaneyalu 27, Sareen Varma 28, Murali 27, Vizin kumar 14, Vimal Kumar Das 37, Shogun Kumar 23, Hari 21, Uma 30, Shodan Kumar 35, Altaf 17, Jithendar 51 and Sadan Devnath, reported TOI.
Train services have been suspended until further notice, according to TV reports. The railways has granted ₹1 lakh compensation to the family of the victim, ₹25,000 for the grievously injured and ₹5,000 for those with minor injuries.
Helpline Numbers
Chennai : 044-25357398
Bangalore helpline numbers: 08022356409, 08022156553
Railway control number: 08022876288
(Ed:AJ)
