What the Doctor Ordered Continues............

A bomb planted in the toilet of the pantry car of the Rajdhani Express running between New Delhi and Kolkata exploded at 10.30 a.m. on the same day between the Prempur and Karbigwan stations in the Allahabad division of the Northern Railway. Two bearers in the pantry car sustained grievous injuries and the coach was badly damaged.

Two bombs were also planted in the Rajdhani Express originating from Kolkata and proceeding to New Delhi. One was placed in the toilet of coach C-6 and the other in the toilet of C-2. One of the bombs went off at 5 a.m., but the other was detected well in time for it to be defused at Bhaupur railway station in the Kanpur division of the Northern Railway.

A bomb placed under seat number 38 of coach 4895 of another prestigious train, the Andhra Pradesh Express, exploded at 7.05 a.m. The blast killed Ahmed Majid Ismail and Jeevan Jyoti—two hapless passengers travelling in the coach—demonstrating that when a terrorist’s bomb explodes or his automatic rifle fires, neither the bomb nor the rifle pay heed to the religion or gender of their victims. In addition to these two fatalities, fifteen passengers sustained grievous injuries and serious damage was caused to the railway coach.

Yet another bomb placed in the Mumbai–Kurla Express was fortunately detected and defused in time on the same day.

Five criminal cases were registered at railway police stations: at Kota in Rajasthan, Kanpur (two cases) in Uttar Pradesh, Valsad in Gujarat and Malkajgiri in Andhra Pradesh. The police departments, assisted by their respective state crime branches, commenced investigations, but they were unable to make any headway. The Government of India, cognizant of the interstate nature of these crimes and their national importance, transferred the five cases to the CBI through two notifications dated 21 December and 28 December 1993.

To be Continued ...........