Thorough check on Up/Down Mangala Express following bomb threat

Kochi, Aug 3 (UNI) A thorough check is being carried out of the Up and Down Ernakulam-Nizamuddin Managala Express at major railway stations following a bomb threat, railway officials here said today.

Senior officials at the Ernakulam station said that bomb disposal and dog squads carried out a thorough check of the train prior to its scheduled departure at 1050 hrs.

The checking was done following an alert from the railway control room at Thiruvananthapuram, which was issued in view of an anonymous call received at Palakkad late last night about a bomb being planted on the train, the officials said.

''A thorough check was done here and nothing was found. The train left at its scheduled departure time. It was checked at the Thrissur and Shornur stations en route also,'' they added.

The train had arrived from Delhi yesterday afternoon, following which it was sent to the pit line for routine maintenance work. It was again checked this morning.

The pairing train from Hazrat Nizamuddin in Delhi, which was scheduled to arrive here at 1350 hrs. today was also being checked en route. Its arrival here had been delayed due to the search operations, they added.

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