Passengers from two coaches of the Akal Takht Express were evacuated on Thursday after the train was stopped at a railway station in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh, because of a suspicious object found in the train. The object was later confirmed to be a low-intensity bomb. While ANI reported that passengers from two coaches had been evacuated, CNN-News18 said that all the passengers had been taken off the train.
#Visuals from Amethi (UP): Suspected object found in Amritsar-bound Akal Takhat Express late night, two coaches vacated. Police, BDS on spot pic.twitter.com/wx5bLCwnZp
— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) August 10, 2017
#BREAKING -- Bomb scare in Akal Takht Express. Train Amritsar bound from Kolkata, it was stopped at Amethi and all passengers were evacuated pic.twitter.com/4ZZrUXCHxN
— News18 (@CNNnews18) August 10, 2017
Police and the Bomb Disposal Squad are at the spot and the object has been identified as a bomb, reported CNN-News18. The bomb, however, was not a high-intensity explosive and has been defused. The train was going from Kolkata to Amritsar but was stopped in Amethi after the suspicious object was reportedly found near the wash basin in one of the two-tier coaches. CNN-News18 also reported that a handwritten letter has been recovered which warns that there will be retaliation to the killing of top Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant Abu Dujana in Jammu and Kashmir.
Amethi: Letter found with the suspected object in Amritsar-bound Akal Takhat Express late night. pic.twitter.com/xq7NhG0QzM
— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) August 10, 2017
Search operations are on for suspicious objects in other coaches of the train, the news channel added. Dujana, a Pakistani national wanted in connection with several terror attacks, and his aide were gunned down on 1 August by security forces in an encounter in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir. Abu Dujana was variously described as a category ‘A’ or ‘A++’ militant by Army and police officials. He also carried a reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head. The slain militants were involved in grenade attacks on security forces at Kakapora. They were also involved in the killing of sarpanch Fayaz Ahmad Bhat earlier this year. Dujana was also involved in the killing of two CRPF personnel at Sangam in Anantnag district and in an attack on a police party at Gallander in Pampore area in which two constables were killed. With inputs from PTI