Blast derails Rajdhani coaches, passengers safe

PTI

Gaya: Passengers on-board the Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express had a miraculous escape when seven of its coaches and the engine derailed near Gaya station following an explosion triggered by suspected Maoists late on Monday night, police said.

There was no casualty or serious injury, Gaya district Superintendent of Police Sushil Khopde said, adding none of the derailed bogies fell on its side which possibly was the reason why no casualty took place.

Sanjay Saraogi, a passenger of the D-3 coach, one of the seven derailed bogies, said that none of the passengers were harmed in the incident.

"We heard the sound of a blast, but to my knowledge no harm has been caused to the passengers in the affected bogies," he said from the spot, about 15 km from Gaya station.

The explosive planted in the tracks between Kasta and Paraiya stations went off shortly after the train left Gaya station, Khopde said, adding a medical team with rescue train was sent to the spot.

Seven coaches and the engine of the 2445 up Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express jumped the tracks due to the impact of the blast, suspected to be a handiwork of the Maoists who have called a 48-hour bandh in seven states, including Bihar, starting on  Monday.

The spot of the explosion is under Gaya-Mughalsarai section of the East Central Railway.

The 48-hour bandh has been called by the CPI (Maoist) in Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and three districts of Maharashtra to protest against the ’Operation Green Hunt’ launched against them.