Rajasthan Police have arrested two people from Punjab, including a 21-year-old woman, in connection with the November 3 explosion that damaged a railway track in Sriganganagar district, while three other people have been detained for allegedly assisting the suspects.
The arrests were made on Saturday by a joint team of the Rajasthan Police Anti-Terrorist Squad and Sriganganagar district police in Gurdaspur district. The two arrested suspects were identified as Mahakdeep Kaur, 21, and Davinder Singh, 22. Rajasthan ATS ADG Dinesh MN said the two were involved in the railway track blast.
Police claimed to have recovered two weapons, 46 cartridges and Rs 30,000 from Kaur. Investigators said she had received money for carrying out the blast. The arrested suspects are being interrogated by Sriganganagar police, and a Rajasthan Police team has been sent to Punjab as part of the investigation.
The explosion took place at around 9.45pm on November 3 near Ramsinghpur in Sriganganagar district. It shattered two concrete-and-steel sleepers, damaged the railway rails and created a crater approximately 2.5 feet deep, according to the report.
The incident raised concerns because the Anupgarh-Suratgarh passenger train had passed through the stretch about 75 minutes before the explosion. Police are investigating whether a moving train may have been the intended target, but have not established the motive behind the blast.
Three other people have been detained for allegedly helping the arrested suspects. IG, Bikaner Range, Om Prakash, told the Times of India that one person allegedly provided the suspects with shelter, another arranged a motorcycle and a third took them to the location to show them the railway track.
Investigators are looking for other people who may have been involved. Police officials said they suspected that the two arrested people may have acted at someone else’s direction and were examining the possibility of a larger conspiracy. However, police have not ruled out sabotage or any other angle.
Officials are also coordinating with Punjab Police to check the previous records of the two arrested suspects and determine whether they had any links with an organisation. The investigation will continue with questioning of the arrested suspects and detained individuals, while teams examine the wider network, motive and planning behind the damage to the railway track.
