Indian security forces defused a powerful bomb found on a train carrying about 1,000 passengers in the northeastern state of Assam on Friday, a police official told AFP.
“Security forces were conducting a routine search when they found an unattended small but heavy bag and on suspicion they checked and detected the bomb neatly concealed,” Assam’s inspector general Bhaskarjyoti Mahanta said.
The bomb was found in the early hours Friday just before the train pulled into the state capital Guwahati.
“It was an improvised explosive device weighing about 5 kilograms (11 pounds) and fitted with a timer. It was a powerful bomb,” Mahanta said.
All passengers were evacuated immediately, before bomb disposal experts disabled the device.
No-one claimed responsibility for Friday’s attempted bomb attack, but officials told AFP they suspected the involvement of a local militant group.
India has been wracked by separatist conflicts since its independence in 1947, with deadly insurgencies in its northwestern and the northeastern regions.
