One dead, 13 injured in bomb explosion in train at Chennai railway station

Chennai A woman passenger was killed and 13 others were injured two of them grievously when two bombs went off today in quick succession in two coaches of the GuwahatiBangalore Express at the Chennai Central railway station the main railway hub hereSouthern Railway General Manager Rakesh Mishra told reporters that the minor intensity blasts took place at around 745 am in S4 and S5 sleeper coaches after the train arrived at the platform number 9One woman was killed and 13 others were injured grievously The woman passenger travelling from Bangalore to Vijayawada diedShe was identified as 22yearold Swati who was slated to go further to Guntur Seven persons received minor injuries Mishra saidThe injured were taken to the governmentrun Rajiv Gandhi general hospital across the road Bomb disposal squad and dog squad have been pressed into actionRepresentational picMishra said the police was investigating the nature of the blast and those who could be behind itPolice said a suspect has been detained in connection with the explosions and he was being questionedThe Railway Minister M Mallikarjun Khargehas announced an exgratia of Rs one lakh to the family of dead woman Rs 25000 for grievously injured and Rs 5000 for those with minor injuriesKharge said the Railway will bear the entire treatment expenses of the injuredMeanwhile Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has condemnedChennai blasts He said the act highlights desperation and cowardice of those responsibleMishra said the grievous injuries of the passengers were not life threatening He said the whole train was being searched and it may be allowed to carry on with its onward journeySoon after the explosion security personnel cordoned off the platform number 9 but the movement of other trains from and to Chennai Central has not been affected Police have mounted a massive search operation in all the trains following the incidentMishra said the train had a brief 10 minute halt at the Central Railway station ahead of its ownward journey Police said they were probing the cause of explosion and device used for itThe Railway has started helpline numbers 04425357398 and 04464502416to render assistance to relatives of passengersTrain services at the station were expected to be resumed by 1100 hrs he saidAffected coaches will be detached and two new coaches will be attached to the train said Anil Saxena Railway spokespersonUnion Home Secretary Anil Goswami said We are in regular touch with the Tamil Nadu government and have sought a report about the incident Asked whether the blast can be termed as a terror attack Goswami said it was too early to arrive at any conclusion We are still waiting for the details he saidHome Minister Sushilkumar Shinde is currently in Himachal Pradesh for campaigning for the Congress candidates I am away in Himachal I have directed my officials to provide all assistance to the state government Shinde said A team of National Security Guard and explosive experts is likely to be sent to Chennai to join in the investigation into the blastNIA team from Hyderabad is being rushed to the blast site official sources said Railway Board Chairman Arunendra Kumar said dog squad medical teams and RPF teams have reached the spot It seems the blast took place under a berth and one passenger has lost life in the blast he saidCondemning the blasts DMK MP T K S Elangovan said This will create fear in the minds of the passengers so it is on police to take precautionary steps and see such things dont happen in the future Meanwhile security at the railway station where thousands of people arrive and depart daily has been further stepped up and all inbound and outbound trains were being subjected to extensive check Baggage screening procedures have been further scaled up Railway sources saidAs a precautionary measure police have stepped up security at the airport hereThe injured have been identified as Murali 37 Krishnapant Soren Pant Santh Bijan Kumar 24 Uma Abdul Khan24 Shihabul Haque 22 Vimal Kumar Hari 21 Altaf Khan admitted to Government Hospital