Bomb scare on train from Mumbai turns a hoax

Vadodara, Jul 14: An anonymous telephone call claiming that a bomb has been planted in the 9115 Bandra Terminum-Bhuj Sayajinagari Express turned out to be hoax last night.

The call which sent police, RPF, GRP personnel and railway officials into a tizzy, spread panic among the passengers as the train was stopped at Panoli station in Bharuch district at 2055 hrs last night for a thorough search for the explosive.

The bomb scare came just two days after the serial blasts on Mumbai's suburban trains on the Western route in which 190 people were killed and over 700 injured.

Talking to UNI, Vadodara Divisional Railway Manager K L Pande said the Express train was allowed to proceed at 2240 hrs after about two hours of intensive search of the train and luggages of the passengers, who were boarded off the train at Panoli to avoid any major disaster.

The anonymous call which was received by the Bharuch GRP turned out to be hoax as no explosive was detected during the search operation carried out jointly by RPF, GRP and local police.

The railway authorities stopped the train at Panoli immediately after the hoax call was received. Bomb disposal squad as well as sniffer dogs from Bharuch and Ankaleswar were also rushed to the spot.

UNI