West Bengal, September 20: Train services in the Kharagpur-Adra section in West Bengal were disrupted for over four hours on Monday after a tiffin box fitted with wires was found on the railway tracks in West Midnapore district.
A tiffin box with wires protruding from it was found on a railway track near Garbeta railway station in West Midnapore district on Monday morning, police said.
“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.
Locals of Aanta village who spotted the tiffin box informed the police and railway authorities immediately, they said, adding, the bomb squad reached the spot and found that there was nothing inside.
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 “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.
—Agencies