Train blasts kill 10 in South

However, within 12 hours of the blasts in Tamil Nadu, investigators have found vital clues and have detained several persons for questioning.

A massive search was on for a few more suspects, and the involvement of a fundamentalist outfit was being probed, an official said. He, however, did not disclose the name of the suspected group.

The first bomb explosion occurred at the Tiruchi Railway station in the second class sleeper compartment of the Chennai-Madurai Pandiyan Express at 4.55 am. killing four persons and injuring eight. The blast took place in the `S4′ compartment, which was the 12th bogie from the engine. The train had left Egmore station in Chennai at 6.45 p.m. on Friday.

Within 15 minutes, the second bomb went off at Erode in an unreserved second class general compartment of the Chennai-Coimbatore Cheran Express at 5.10 am, killing two persons and leaving seven injured. The blast occurred just after the train had left the Erode station, about two kms away. The blast took place in the fifth bogie from the engine. The train had left Chennai Central at 8.35 p.m. on Friday.

The third blast occured in Chennai-Alappuza Express at Thrissur in Kerala at 7.45 am in which four persons were killed and 57 injured. The blast took place in an unreserved compartment, which was the 10th bogie from the engine. The bomb went off at the Trichur station, when the train was stationery.

All the trains originated from Chennai and the blasts were similar in nature.

The railways gave the list of the dead in the Pandiayn Express blast as : Meenakshi and Chidambaram. The other two bodies are yet to be identified. The dead in the Cheran Express blast near Erode could not be identified. And only one body, that of Manikantan, could be identified at Thrissur.

According to bomb disposal squad officials, who examined the samples collected from the blast in Cheran Express, the bombs that exploded in Pandiyan, Cheran and Alappuza Express trains were made of a mixture of gelatine and RDX.

The samples indicated that it was a time bomb, triggerred by a quartz watch, which was concealed in a travelling bag. The bomb was apparently set to explode at Coimbatore station at 0500 hrs, but went off near Erode as the train was delayed.

The strap of the bag was recovered from the spot.

The damage caused to the compartment indicated that the bomb should have weighed about four kg. Jagan Seshadri, Inspector General of Police (Operations) told newsmen in coimbatore that only the detonator was different in the bombs used today when compared to the one recovered from a parking lot of an apartment here on Monday last. While timer devices were used to trigger the blasts today, the one recovered earlier was of a booby-trap type, he added.

A high level of inquiry has been ordered into the bomb blasts by the government.

The railways have set up special assistance booths at Chennai, Tiruchi, Madurai, Trichur and Erode to provide information and to assist the passengers and their relatives. The telephone numbers of the special information booths are in Chennai : 044-5354854 and 044-8254533; in Tiruchi : 0431-460534; in Madurai : 0452-741148; in Trichur : 0487-24148; and in Erode : 0424-220276 and 0424-215766.The railways have, meanwhile, stepped up security at all stations and on trains. Dog squads were pressed into service at Chennai Central and Chennai Egmore stations. The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister has ordered that an ex-gratia of Rs one lakh be granted to the families of the victims who were killed in the blasts in the Cheran and Panidan Express. The Southern Railway announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 15,000 for the next of kin of the deceased, Rs 5,000 for the seriously injured and Rs 500 for the passengers who sustained simple injuries in the bomb blasts.Bandh violence claims one in HyderabadOne person was killed and seven others including five police personnel, were injured in violence that erupted in the Old City today during a bandh organised by several Muslim organisations in protest against the demolition of Babri Masjid.

A 17-year-old, stabbed by unidentified persons at Gowlipura, died on his way to Osmania General Hospital. Earlier, a Special Branch sub-inspector and four Task Force personnel besides two members of the peace committee were injured in stone-pelting incidents at Mecca Masjid and Mogulpura Kaman. Police fired one round in the air to disperse the crowd.

The bandh called by Majlis, Majlis Bachao Tehreek and other organisations, was total in the Old City while only a few business establishments downed shutters in other parts of the city. Glass-panes of five RTC buses, four private cars and a police vehicle were damaged in separate incidents.