Woman techie killed, 14 injured

Chennai: A 24-year old woman techie was killed and 14 others injured when a twin bomb blast rocked the Bangalore-Guwahati Express at the busy Central Railway station in the city today.

The two low-intensity bombs that went off in quick succession in S4 and S5 coaches about ten minutes after the train chugged into the platform in the morning, triggered of chaotic scenes with panic stricken passengers running for safety.

The woman killed in the mishap has been identified as Swathi, employed with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in Bangalore, and was travelling to her home town Guntur in Andhra Pradesh along with a friend, police said.

Fourteen injured persons, including two critically wounded, were undergoing treatment at the state-run Rajiv Gandhi General Hospital where doctors described their condition as "out of danger".

Police cordoned off the platform where the explosion occurred, rushed forensic experts, bomb disposal squads and sniffer dogs to look for clues and the Tamil Nadu Government transferred the investigation to its specialised wing CB-CID.

The ill-fated train continued its onward journey after railway authorities replaced three damaged coaches while other trains were being operated as scheduled after a brief disruption, railway officials said.

The police are probing all angles including whether the bomb was planted after the train entered the city railway station or elsewhere, a police official refusing to be identified said.

The CB-CID sleuths who have already plunged into the probe have detained three coaches of the train, collected pellets found on the scene and other materials, sources said.

The Tamil Nadu police have alerted railway authorities at various stations from Bangalore to Chennai to look for CCTV footages for suspects and also the point at which the explosive material gained entry into the train, sources said.

Two persons who were travelling by the train have been detained for questioning, police said but refused to reveal further details.

State DGP K Ramanujam who visited the mishap site said," It is a minor blast. It is suspected that Chennai could not have been target of those who were behind the blast because the train was running late. Some other location could have been the target".

"It is premature to say what kind of device was used in the blast. Damage to the train is not heavy," he added.

DGP (Elections) Anoop Jaiswal said, "We are picking up clues and any speculation on this is too premature. Nobody has been arrested so far", he said.