In a sudden strike outlawed NDFB rebels on Thursday blew up railway tracks and derailed the Garib Rath Express a passenger train killing one person and injuring seven others including the driver of the train in Western Assam’s Kokrajhar district. However, security forces foiled similar attempts of Bodo rebels in Northern Assam’s Sonitpur district by recovering the IED before it was triggered.
The police said that speeding Garib Rath Express ran over the improvised explosive device which went off just before the engine of the train approached the blast site. Six coaches of the trains got derailed.
The chief public relation officer of Northeast Frontier Railways S. Hajong said, “The Garib Rath Express from Guwahati to Kolkata was at Babubil when the blast took place.”
The injured were shifted to Alipurduar hospital and relief trains evacuated the stranded passengers from the blast site.
He informed that the driver of the train and a police constable received serious injuries, while six coaches were damaged due to derailment. The dead passenger has been identified as Durlav Chetia (5) of Guwahati
The police that claimed to have launched the combing operations in the areas pointed out that casualty was less because the train was moving at a very low speed while crossing the rail bridge under which the IED was planted. The police also claimed that the explosive device was planted on the track minutes before the train was to pass the area.
Meanwhile, the Assam police has sounded security alert warning the security forces of NDFB plan to trigger of serial bomb blasts in the state. Senior police officers claimed to have intercepted radio communication of the NDFB rebels revealing a massive plan to trigger of bomb blasts all across the state.
In view of the security alert the Northeast Frontier Railways has suspended and diverted the train running in vulnerable areas of the state. The security forces have intensified the patrolling of the railways tracks also.
The security agencies have warned off more such violent attacks by NDFB rebels.
The NF Railways’s accident relief and medical team led by divisional railway manager of Alipurduar Division was also camping at the accident site. The general manager, NF Railways Mr Shiv Kumar, along with senior railway officials also visited the accident site and supervised the relief and rescue operations. The authorities have also arranged a special train to carry the stranded passengers to Kolkata, said the NF Railways CPRO.