BOMB SCARE AT NEW DELHI STATION, LUCKNOW SHATABDI EVACUATED

New Delhi, 23 Rabi’ul Awwal 1437/3 January 2016 (MINA) – Trains were delayed at New Delhi Railway Station and a Lucknow-bound Shatabdi was evacuated after authorities received a bomb threat early on Sunday morning.

Press Trust of India reported that the e-mail, received by the Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Squad and forwarded to authorities in Delhi, said there was a bomb placed in a train running between New Delhi and Kanpur railway stations.

Trains were stopped, dog squads were rushed to railway stations in the city and all passengers searched after the alert was received. Hindustan Times quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

The Delhi-Lucknow Shatabdi Express, which had left a few minutes earlier, was halted at nearby Ghaziabad and searched thoroughly after evacuating passengers.

The train was allowed to leave the station at 7:52am as nothing unusual was found, railway officials said.

“We received an input from GRP-Delhi Police at 6:23am that there is a possibility of a security threat between Delhi and Kanpur. According to the input, there could be bombs in major trains like Shatabdi, Duronto, Rajdhani, Vaishali Express and Nilanchal Express,” Delhi divisional railway manager Arun Arora said.

Speaking on the bomb scare at New Delhi station, Milind Dumbre, DCP (railways), said: “We have taken all security measures. A search is underway. No suspicious object has been found so far.”

The incident came a day after five terrorists suspected to be from Pakistan attacked an air force base in Punjab’s Pathankot and killed three securitymen before being gunned down in a 15-hour encounter.

Railway have strengthened security measures at all major railway stations, including New Delhi, Nizamuddin, Old Delhi and Anand Vihar in Delhi division after the bomb threat. Trains which were to leave in the morning were sanitised. (T/P001/R04)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)