Blasts strike Indo-Pak Samjhauta

67 killed as terror strikes in Panipat; most of the victims are Pakistanis.

The blasts that killed 67 people on the Samjhauta Express between New Delhi and Attari, Pakistan, were triggered by a dozen plastic bottles containing a cocktail of fuel and sulphur or nitrate.

Police said while the explosions were minor, they were aimed at causing fire on at least four of the train's coaches. There were more than 700 people aboard the train, at least 200 of them Pakistani citizens returning home.

The government called the blasts "an act of terrorism" but did not identify the perpetrators. "Heat-generating explosives used in the blast was something never encountered before,'' Home Minister Shivraj Patil said. "Bodies were charred beyond recognition," he said, refusing to name anyone for the blast.

However, analysts say the act could have been carried out by any of the smaller outfits that are acting as franchisees of the Al Qaida all over the world.

Samjhauta Express has been the target of several hardliner religio-political groups who feel the improving relations between India and Pakistan will harm their cause in Kashmir.

Most victims were Pakistanis but included some Indians and three railway policemen, said officials, adding it was clearly an attempt to undermine the peace process between India and Pakistan. Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf had recently described relations between India and Pakistan as "the best ever in history."

"It's sabotage, it's an act of terrorism like the one in Mumbai," Railways Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav said, referring to the serial bomb blasts in Mumbai last July that killed 186 people. He announced an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh to the families of the deceased.

Two suitcases containing IEDs were recovered from the train and the track, one of which contained petrol or kerosene. Yadav said this indicated that the aim was to burn the train. "Fire spreads faster in a moving train," he said. He said special passes would be issued to the Pakistanis to come and claim the bodies, adding that one person had been arrested in this connection.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed "anguish and grief" and vowed to catch the culprits.

The Mumbai stock market shrugged off the news, its main index rising in afternoon trade. "Incidents such as these are increasingly becoming a fact of life and we have learned to live with them," said CK Narayan, an analyst with ICICI Securities.

India is arranging for visas for Pakistani nationals whose kin have been either killed or injured. "Visas are being arranged. The railways is arranging a special train," Foreign Secretary Shivshanker Menon said after meeting Home Secretary VK Duggal.

Sources privy to the meeting said the Indian High Commission in Pakistan would organise a special camp to issue visas and the railways would be asked to provide free passes to the relatives.

Intelligence Bureau Chief PC Haldar and Joint Secretary (Foreigners) in the Home Ministry, Asim Khurana, were present at the meeting.