Miraculous Escape For Chennai Express As Ied Blast On Tracks In Kokrajhar

GUWAHATI: The Chennai Express had a miraculous escape on Friday night when an IED exploded on the track between Srirampur and Gossaigaon stations in Assam's Kokrajhar district barely five minutes after the Guwahati-Chennai train crossed the site.

District police said that the blast has blown away almost seven feet of the track in the down line. "It was an IED blast. The blast has made a crater about two feet deep and we have found some wires and a LPG cylinder at the blast site. The cylinder was used to magnify the impact of the blast," a senior police official said.

Police suspect the involvement of the anti-talk faction of National Democratic Front of Boroland in the blast. Police said there were inputs that the anti-talk NDFB group would try to blast the railway tracks. However, an Adivasi militant outfit on Saturday morning called up some media houses claiming responsibility of the blast. Police said that this outfit Adivasi National Army could be a newly floated outfit.

Northeast Frontier Railway authorities said that soon after the blast train movement, particularly the outbound trains, were affected as the tracks were completely damaged. "We undertook the track repair work immediately and normal trains services have resumed. Train movement were affected for about four hours yesterday night", a railway official said.

Posted in: Breaking News