3 killed in U.P. train blast

By Our Staff Reporter

GHAZIABAD, AUG. 14. At least three persons were killed and 16 injured -- seven of them critically -- when a powerful bomb ripped apart a compartment of a passenger train at the Murad Nagar railway station near Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh this afternoon. But the State Home Department spokesman put the number of injured at 35. The explosion took place in the second bogie from the engine.

The blast -- which came on the eve of Independence Day celebrations, for which elaborate security arrangements have been made in and around Delhi -- took place at about 3-40 p.m. when the 372 Rishikesh-Hardwar-Delhi Passenger was on its way to Delhi.

According to eyewitnesses, the blast took place under a seat close to the entrance of the II Class compartment. One of the injured, Mr. Yad Ram, who had boarded the train at Meerut, said the explosive was probably kept under a seat. ``I was sitting in the adjoining cubicle and passed out following the blast.''

The Senior Superintendent of Police (Ghaziabad), Mr. Prashant Kumar, said that while one person, identified as 35-year-old Eeshwar Singh, a railway employee of Ghaziabad, was killed on the spot, two others -- Tayyab and Yahya Khan `Senior' -- died from injuries at Yashoda Hospital.

The condition of two other injured passengers, Yahya Khan Jr. and Ahmed, who were also admitted to Yashoda Hospital, was critical. While seven of the injured were still being treated at Yashoda Hospital, nine were under treatment in MM Government Civil Hospital at Ghaziabad. Of them, the condition of five was critical.

A crude device

Mr. Kumar said the explosive appeared to be a ``crude'' device. Forensic experts from Agra were investigating the case to ascertain the nature of the explosive. The police are also investigating if this was a chance explosion and one of the injured or deceased was actually carrying the explosive.

Northern Railway authorities said that following the explosion the Station Superintendent of Murad Nagar, Mr. Jagdish Prasad, immediately sought help from Ordnance Factory doctors, who rushed to the spot and arranged first aid for the injured.

Following the blast, the Northern Railway has set up an enquiry booth each at the New Delhi station (Ph. No. 3344128) and the Old Delhi station (3962389).

A medical relief train was also sent to Murad Nagar with a team of railway doctors. The train left Delhi at 4-20 p.m. Railway authorities said doctors from Ghaziabad and Meerut have also reached Murad Nagar. The ill-fated train resumed its journey to Delhi later in the evening and reached the Old Delhi station at 7-20 p.m.

Since the blast has come on the eve of Independence Day and just 70 km from Delhi, both the Crime Branch and Special Cell of the Delhi police have despatched their teams to the spot to get a first-hand account.

While the matter is being investigated by the Uttar Pradesh police, the Delhi police are interested in knowing the nature of the explosive to ascertain which terrorist group, if at all any was involved, carried it out.

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