Two people, including a woman, have been arrested in connection with the blast on a railway track in Rajasthan’s Sri Ganganagar district, with police probing a suspected Pakistan link.
The arrested accused have been identified as Devendra Singh and Mahakdeep Kaur, 21, both residents of Gurdaspur in Punjab. They were arrested in a joint operation involving the Rajasthan Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), Rajasthan Police and Punjab Police.
The explosion took place around 9.45 pm on November 3 near 50 GB village in the Ramsinghpur area, on the Anupgarh-Suratgarh railway line, shortly after a passenger train had passed the spot. Two concrete sleepers supporting the track were damaged in the blast.
Police said the two are alleged conspirators in the incident and are being questioned to establish their roles. Bikaner Inspector General of Police Om Prakash and Sri Ganganagar Superintendent of Police Harishankar are personally questioning the accused, while IPS officer Nitin Chaudhary, Circle Officer (City), Sri Ganganagar, is overseeing the investigation. ADG (ATS) Dinesh MN said the two were involved in the railway track blast. Three other people suspected of helping the accused have also been detained.
Police said two weapons, 46 cartridges and Rs 30,000 were recovered from the woman, who investigators said received money for carrying out the blast. Reports say a Pakistani handler named ‘Shah’ had assigned them the task, and investigators suspect the accused acted at someone else’s behest. Police have not yet established the motive behind the blast and have not ruled out sabotage or a larger conspiracy.
Police had earlier ruled out any link between the blast and 7.5 kg of RDX recently recovered in the border region. “There is no connection with the seized RDX, till now,” Sri Ganganagar SP Harishankar had said. The Railways had lodged a complaint against unidentified persons at the Ramsinghpur police station after the blast.
