Major train accident averted in Asom

Guwahati, Oct 20: A major train disaster was averted when CRPF patrol team found a powerful bomb on the track near Kaithalkuchi in Nalbari district this morning.

The North Eastern Frontier (NF) Railway authorities suspended train services in the stretch diverting major traffic through southern route.

According to NF railway sources, the bomb was found when the Manas Rhino passenger train carrying thousands of commuters from lower Asom was about to reach Tihu station.

Immediately the train was stopped and later bomb experts from the Army defused the bomb. But till then the entire operation of the NF railway between Guwahati and Bongaigaon got diverted through the southern bank of the Brahmaputra.

It was suspected that ULFA had planted the bomb as their frontal organisation Peoples Committee for Peace Initiative in Asom (PCPIA) today called for a 10-hour bandh paralysing life in the Brahmaputra valley.

The NF Railway authorities are expected to clear the line by this evening, while the Manas Rhino was cancelled.

UNI