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Journalism of Courage
A possible terror attack was foiled just days before the Diwali festival with the recovery of over 5-kg explosives and detonators from a car parked outside the Ambala Cantt Railway Station,police said on Thursday.
Acting on a tip-off,a joint police team of Delhi and Haryana found the explosives in a blue Indica car parked outside the railway station last night.
“Five detonators,two timer devices,five kg explosives in two packets and two batteries were seized from the car lying parked outside the railway station,” said Haryana’s Director General of Police,Ranjiv Dalal,who along with senior officials of Haryana Police visited the spot.
Bomb disposal squads were summoned from Madhuban and other neighbouring places.
A box of sweets was found lying in the car,which showed it was purchased from Jammu’s Bari Brahmna area. Two newspapers of Kashmir were also found in the car.
The car bore a fake Haryana registration number — HR 03 0054 — and police suspect it was stolen.
When asked if the intended target of the terror plot could have been Delhi,Dalal said,”Senior officers from various investigating and security agencies are here. We are probing every angle.”
As the cantonment area is also located in Ambala,police would also be probing if the target could have been a military installation in the region.
The explosives have been sent for forensic test and a team of National Security Guard (NSG) from Delhi has been rushed to the spot,police said,adding the nature of explosives was being studied.
Security agencies will be going through the CCTV footages available at various toll barriers in Punjab and Haryana through which the car may have passed,police sources said.
Special Cell officers who reached Ambala around 6.30 pm on Wednesday found the Indica at the parking lot of the station. It had apparently been there since afternoon,being watched over by Haryana Police officers,who had been informed about the tip-off.
The officers lay in wait,hoping for someone to show up.
After waiting for over five hours,just before midnight,they decided to inspect the car and found the explosives.
After recovering the explosives,security personnel thoroughly checked the car.
The tyres of the vehicle and some other parts were removed to check for presence of any more explosives,the sources said.
In view of the approaching Diwali festival,vigil has been stepped up around key installations and crowded public places including railway stations in the state.
