BHOPAL: At least eight persons were injured in an explosion in a general coach of an Ujjain-bound passenger train at the Jabri station near Kala Pipal in Shajapur district of Madhya Pradesh.
The 59320 passenger train had left Bhopal at around 8:10 pm on Monday and the incident occurred at 9:50 pm. The compartment was subsequently cut off from the rest of the train. Officials said that a medical relief van from the railways was rushed to the spot and three of those who sustained serious injuries were taken to Bhopal.
MP Home Minister, Bhupendra Singh, said a Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) team has been sent to the spot and an inquiry ordered into the incident.
It was too early to say whether the incident is a mishap or a terror attack, he said. Singh said that senior officials have reached the spot. The exact nature of the explosives that caused the incident is not known though initial reports suggested that the cause of the blast was an explosive-laden suitcase.
Unofficial figures suggested that the number of injured was higher. Passengers said that there was smell of gunpowder in the compartment after the blast. The compartment was damaged in the explosion that ripped a hole in the bogey.
Local police officials were checking the bogeys of the train. Trains have been on target lately. The Indore-Patna Express mishap last year was later found to be a sabotage. The train had been derailed near Kanpur. Over 145 persons had died in the incident.