‘Low intensity explosive’ seized from train lavatory

A powdered substance, suspected to be low intensity explosive was on Tuesday seized from the lavatory of a train at New Delhi Railway station.

Around 12.15 pm, a passenger on-board in the Jan Shatabdi Express which was to arrive from Una in Madhya Pradesh, raised an alarm over the substance suspected to be explosive, following which security agencies were informed, a senior official said. The train arrived at the station around 10 minutes later and by then a team comprising officials from several security agencies was waiting for it. A thorough search was conducted and a bag with the powdered substance stuffed inside it was found in the lavatory of the D1 compartment.

After preliminary investigation, officials started suspecting that the substance could be low intensity explosive.

The bag also contained some iron nails and broken shards of glass, raising suspicion among security agencies and the bomb disposal and detection squad was rushed there in no time, the official said. The train, which was to leave for Dehradun in another two and a half hours, was subjected to further inspection and soon Delhi Police’s Special Cell was informed about the matter, the senior official said.

When questioned, the passenger who raised the alarm told police that he noticed three persons, including a woman, frequenting the lavatory in which the substance was found.

He also told police that three of them deboarded from near the Sadar Bazar railway station around two minutes after the substance was spotted.