Bihar: Alert railway staff detect cane bomb on track on Gaya-Koderma line, avert major mishap

Alert staff of the Indian Railways and the police averted a major rail mishap after recovering a powerful cane bomb placed under the railway track in Gaya district of Bihar on Tuesday.

The cane bomb was hidden under the railway track by suspected Maoists near Banskatawa railway station on the Gaya-Koderma section of the East Central Railway (ECR). The extremely Naxal-affected area bordering Koderma in Jharkhand has hilly forests.

Train communication on the route was halted for three hours before the Gaya Police bomb disposal squad and SSB reached the place, defused the bomb. The forces conducted an intensive search in the area before train services were resumed, ECR chief public relations officer Saraswati Chandra said.

The track maintenance staff spotted the cane bomb planted under the downline track between Yadugram and Baskatwa railway stations around 3pm on Tuesday.

The RPF, police and SSB team, under sub divisional police officer Sunil Kumar Pandey, rushed to the spot. The bomb disposal and dog squad arrived late evening and defused the bomb.

Two trains Delhi-Puri Purushottam Express and Purnea-Hatia Koshi Super Express had already passed on the track and the Ara-Ranchi Express was about to pass and was halted at Gurpa station when the bomb was detected. Entire train movement on the route was stopped.

Passengers of the Ara-Ranchi Express thanked the railway staff for the timely detection of the bomb.

Gaya senior superintendent of police Ashish Bharti said a case has been registered, and a special investigating team (SIT) has been formed under Wazirganj SDPO to identify, arrest and ensure necessary action against the persons involved in the act.