Sri Ganganagar: A blast on the Anupgarh-Suratgarh railway line near village 50 GB has put this border district of Rajasthan on alert, with the Anti-Terrorism Squad, CID and a Bomb Disposal Squad examining the site through Wednesday morning.
Two concrete sleepers supporting the track were destroyed in the explosion late on Tuesday, exposing the steel reinforcement inside. Police said a crater about two feet deep and two feet wide was left between the rails. Residents of a dhani roughly 200 metres away heard the sound and called the police.
The spot falls under Ramsinghpur police station. Circle Inspector Ram Pratap said the Anupgarh-Suratgarh passenger train left Anupgarh Junction at 8.30 pm on Tuesday and passed the area around 9 pm. The blast came about 45 minutes later.
Superintendent of Police Harishankar reached the site around 12.30 am. "It is too early to ascertain the exact nature of the incident," he said, adding that a Forensic Science Laboratory team had been called. A bomb disposal squad and a dog squad also moved in.
He said there was no established link yet with the roughly 7.5 kg of RDX recovered in the border belt days earlier. That seizure, officials said, included two Zigana pistols, four magazines, around 867 cartridges, five batteries and two remote controls, and the consignment was suspected to have been dropped by drone from across the border.
Intelligence Bureau and CID teams reached the spot around 2 am, and ATS Additional Superintendent of Police Surendra Kumar at 2.15 am. The area was cordoned off while forensic teams collected samples.
North Western Railway Chief Public Relations Officer Amit Sudarshan said two sleepers were found damaged. Trains 59711 and 59712 between Suratgarh and Anupgarh stand cancelled for November 4, and an Anupgarh-Bathinda service scheduled for 6 am was also cancelled.
Border districts in this belt have seen repeated recoveries of weapons and explosives over recent months, and agencies are examining whether Tuesday's blast was aimed at a train. What was used, and who placed it, will be established only after the forensic report, officials said.