An unclaimed bag at the Pathankot railway station sparked a security scare on Tuesday, but it was later found that it contained clothes and was mistakenly left behind by a soldier.
After the bag was detected around 11.30 am, people were swiftly evacuated from the area and rail traffic was halted on the route in the district, where police and agencies have been on high alert following the terror strike at the airbase early this month.
Bomb disposal and dog squads were pressed into service to identify the contents of the bag. Pathankot SSP RK Bakshi said the sleuths found that the bag contained uniform, shoes and other articles of an Army jawan who had mistakenly left it behind. “We have established the identity of the jawan,” he said.
Punjab police and Government Railway Police officials said the bag, wrapped in a black cloth, was left behind by the Army jawan who had alighted at the railway station when the train halted after reaching here from Delhi.
“After the bag was discovered by the Government Railway Police on the train, they immediately informed me saying that they had brought it down at the railway station and cleared the area of any people. Soon afterwards, the police and the Army along with the bomb disposal and dog squads reached the spot,” he said.
The official added: “We took no chance and immediately halted the rail traffic on the route after the bag was found. The railway station was also got vacated.”
Punjab is already on high alert after the January 2 Pathankot air base terror attack in which seven security personnel were killed. Tight security arrangements had been put in place in view of Republic Day.