Two days after recovery of explosives in Gondwana express enroute to Hazrat Nizamuddin from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh GRP today said the incident could be a 'prank' but they are probing it from all angles.
A senior police official said that it was revealed from preliminary examination that the explosive was not active, hence it wouldn't have exploded.
"Somebody played a mischief by putting the dud explosive in the berth. From examination, it was found that explosive would not have caused an explosion as it was not active," Superintendent of Railway Police, Jabalpur, A K Pandey told PTI over phone.
"It appears that somebody wanted to create sensation and panic," he said, adding, investigation into the recovery was on but the Government Railway Police (GRP) can't take any chances in the case.
GRP had quizzed a couple and a man who alighted the train at Katni and Sagar station respectively. They were let off after interrogation as the GRP was convinced that they were innocent.
On Sunday, nine pyro bombs, explosives, batteries, copper wires and some electronic devices were recovered underneath a berth in Sleeper coach no. 8 of Gondwana Express around 3.20 PM at Sihora, just 20 minutes after it chugged off from Jabalpur to Hazrat Nizamuddin.
The explosive was disposed off by bomb disposal squad near a lake at Sihora. After the train left Sihora, Sagar GRP again received information that two more bombs were still in the train.
The train was stopped at Malikedhi station and its S-7, 8 and 9 coaches were thoroughly searched for three hours from 8.45 PM to 11.45 PM but no suspicious object was found.
Later, the train left and reached its destination yesterday.
"We have got some leads in the case. Even if someone has put the stuff to play the mischief, he or the group should be punished. We are investigating the case to get to the core as we are serious over the incident," MP GRP Director General, Maithili Sharan Gupt said.
Meanwhile, teams of intelligence agencies of state and Centre and MP Anti Terrorists Squad (ATS) are camping in Jabalpur and probing the incident from different angles, a top MP government official said.
The state government is understood to have already submitted its initial findings in the case to National Investigation Agency (NIA).
