Blast before Kamrup Express run, patrol engine derails

Targeting moving trains in Assam for the second time in three days, militants exploded a bomb on a railway track in Karbi Anglong district on Sunday night shortly before the Kolkata-Dibrugarh Kamrup Express was to pass derailing a security patrol engine. A second blast was heard somewhere between Diphu and Nilalang and security personnel have rushed there, official sources said.

Targeting moving trains in Assam for the second time in three days, militants exploded a bomb on a railway track in Karbi Anglong district on Sunday night shortly before the Kolkata-Dibrugarh Kamrup Express was to pass derailing a security patrol engine.

HT Image

A second blast was heard somewhere between Diphu and Nilalang and security personnel have rushed there, official sources said.

The sources said an improvised explosive device (IED) was triggered by suspected KLNLF militants on the track at Kalahandle between Doldoli and Diphu railway stations in central Assam at around 9.15 pm in which a security patrol engine preceding the train was hit.

The engine in which RPF personnel was checking the tracks for bombs before arrival of the Kamrup Express, jumped of the tracks and fell on its side in the impact of the blast.

The Karbi Longri National Liberation Front (KLNLF) militants also fired from both sides at the engine.

However, there was no casualty or injury.

About 23 feet of the tracks were damaged due to the explosion and trains including the Kamrup Express were halted at various stations.

Diphu will go to polls on April 16 when the first phase Lok Sabha elections will be held in Assam. The militants have called for a 48-hour bandh from April 15.