A special train from Guwahati which was scheduled to reach Bengaluru on Monday evening is running late. The train carrying hundreds of people from the Northeast will reach the city now, only in the early hours of Tuesday.
Speaking to this newspaper, a senior official of the South Western Railway, Bengaluru Division said: “Because of heavy rains in some parts of Andra Pradesh and other states the train is running late. Train No. 02510 Guwahati-Bangalore City Special left Guwahati at 1.15 pm on September 1 and will now reach Bengaluru City at 5 am on September. The train was scheduled to arrive in the city at 6 pm on Monday but has been delayed by over 10 hours.”
Special police protection has been reportedly provided to the train to make sure that passengers on board reach the city safety. Police escort on the train will be provided when it enters the state. Railway Protection Force (RFP) personnel would also board the train from various stations in Karnataka as an added security measure.
Some 2,500 North-easterners of the 25,000 who fled from Bengaluru about two weeks ago, fearing attacks are onboard. SWR officials said however that the exact number of people who are onboard the train would be known only when the train arrives at Bengaluru City Railway station.
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NIA may get us-made rifle smuggling case
Age correspondent
New Delhi, Sept. 3
To crack the network of suppliers of foreign-made weapons to Maoists, the Centre is planning to hand over the recent case of recovery of a M16 rifle of American-make from bordering Jharkhand to the National Investigation Agency. The M16 rifle — a US Army-issue assault rifle — had been seized from two men in a jungle bordering Bihar in Jharkhand early this month.
An NIA team is camping in Jharkhand to investigate how the rifle reached the suppliers and the route through which it could have been smuggled from across the border. Home ministry officials said that the case will be handed over to the NIA soon. “Our suspicion is that more such foreign-make weapons may have been smuggled to the Maoists. We are asking the Jharkhand government to hand over the case to the NIA,” an official said. Officials said this is the first instance of the Indian Maoists laying hands on such a weapon even though Nepali Maoists have been found to be using it for sometime.