Bid to blow up rail track thwarted

By Our Staff Reporter

Guwahati, February 27: A major catastrophe was averted when a liquid petroleum gas (LPG) cylinder-based powerful Improvised Explosive Device (IED) was recovered on a railway track at Goalpara today. The IED was recovered and destroyed by the Goalpara-based army troops of Red Horn Division. Defence spokesman Lt Col Suneet Newton said the army came to know about the IED placed under the busy Goalpara – Dudhnoi - Mendipather - Guwahati railway line at Barigaon near Dudhnoi. A thorough search was carried out by the army along with Assam Police. The IED was recovered with the help of an army sniffer dog. It was found well camouflaged under the railway track, which is the only rail link to Meghalaya and an alterte rail route connecting Guwahati with rest of India. Defence sources said that had the blast been triggered, it would have disturbed the fragile peace in ethnically sensitive Goalpara district and adjoining hills of Meghalaya.

Following a string of setbacks, militant outfits are now reportedly desperate to carry out subversive activities in the State to prove their strength. This is the second IED recovered in the week. Last week, an IED was defused by the army in Bhalukdubi.