RailEnquiry

Mumbai  -- The Mumbai-Howrah Duronto express train had to make an unscheduled halt at Kalyan station on Thursday evening after passengers informed the government railway police (GRP) control room about a suspicious box in one of the train's compartments. Soon after the train was halted, a bomb detection and disposal squad (BDDS) team arrived at the spot, where around 50 coloured sticks, suspected to be gelatin sticks, were recovered. The GRP control received a call stating there was a suspicious box in the B-1 compartment of the AC-3 coach of the train, which was halted at Kalyan station at 6.16 pm. After GRP officials reached the spot, they found a wooden box containing 40 black and 10 yellow sticks, each of which were around a foot long . The GRP officials took the box away and the train proceeded on its way. AR Jagtap, senior inspector of Kalyan GRP, said, "We have seized the box containing the suspicious sticks. We have no clue about the substance the sticks are made of and will hence send them for chemical analysis for further clarity. We are looking into the issue." The police have not detained anybody and are trying to ascertain whom the box belonged to and where it was being sent. However, a label pasted on the box showed that an agent named Guddu allegedly sent the box to one Deepak in Howrah. Police are on the lookout for Guddu. Though the officials are unsure about the material, sources stated that they were gelatin sticks, which is a type of explosive used in quarries. Permission is required for possessing gelatin sticks. It is also a crime to carry any explosive, hazardous or inflammatory material in the train.