Government Railway Police have arrested a 28-year-old man in connection with handwritten bomb threats and communally provocative messages allegedly found inside the Banaras-Lucknow Intercity Express at Lucknow’s Charbagh railway station. The notes were discovered on November 11, and police said the accused was arrested on Friday after an investigation involving teams from several railway police units.
The accused, identified as Mohammad Shariq of Ansar Nagar in Ayodhya, allegedly pasted the notes behind mirrors and near toilet windows in two general coaches of train number 14225/14226. The coaches were identified by numbers 135252 and 094520. The train was stationed on platforms 8 and 9 at Charbagh when the messages came to light, according to the GRP.
The notes reportedly contained threats to blow up the train along with objectionable religious and communal remarks. The GRP registered a first information report against an unidentified person under Sections 196(1) and 299 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. The provisions relate to acts promoting enmity between groups and deliberate acts intended to outrage religious feelings.
According to the police account reported by the Times of India, Shariq told investigators that he had acted after a woman ended their relationship. Police said he allegedly intended to defame his former girlfriend by placing the threatening and provocative messages inside the train. The GRP also said that he had no previous criminal record.
Following the discovery of the notes, senior railway police officials directed the formation of three teams. Personnel from GRP units in Charbagh, Shahjahanpur, Ayodhya and Akbarpur, along with surveillance officials, were involved in identifying and tracing the suspect.
Police said the investigation led to Shariq’s arrest near a broken bridge in Sevagram Colony, close to platforms 8 and 9 at Charbagh railway station. He was subsequently sent to judicial custody, according to the GRP.
The incident placed a passenger train and a major railway station at the centre of a security investigation involving both an alleged explosive threat and material capable of provoking communal tension. The case also required coordination across railway police jurisdictions because the suspect was traced to Ayodhya while the notes were found in Lucknow.
The Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police announced a cash reward of Rs 25,000 for the police team that solved the case. Further legal proceedings will continue as the investigation advances under the sections cited in the FIR.
