Unclaimed 'explosives' box sends Howrah berserk

ALARM TONES: A 9-hour drama took place in the station after a box of explosives was discovered.

J & K | Chhattisgarh | Delhi | MP |
Mizoram | Rajasthan

Featured Blog

Rajdeep Sardesai

26/11: Terror comes precariously close

Featured Slideshows

Kolkata: Howrah station near Kolkata witnessed a nine-hour long drama on Tuesday after a box marked 'explosives' was discovered there.

It was later revealed that it contained dead mortar shells belonging to the army exposing serious lapses on the way dangerous materials are handled.

Railway officials discovered the inside the parcel van of a passenger train around 1400 hours IST.

The busy platform was immediately cleared even as security personnel rushed in to investigate.

Divisional railway manager, Howrah, Mohammed Jamshed says, “The moment the box was placed at 1440 hrs, within 15 minutes our dog squads along with Government Railway Police (GRP) and NRP staff were there already checking it.”

It took several hours and an army bomb disposal squad to determine the contents.

The Army says the box contained dead mortar shells from the Pune Ordnance factory.

They were to be offloaded at Balasur for testing by Defence Research Development Organization (DRDO), but were never delivered.

The Army blames Railways for the lapse.

Defence Public Relations Officer (PRO) R K Das says “Once booked to railways, it becomes the property of the railways. Till it is handed over to the DRDO staff at Balasur, it is the responsibility and property of the railways.”

While the Army maintains the shells did not contain explosives, railway security officials later claimed otherwise. An enquiry has now been ordered.

Security official Raja Ram says, “It is not a final thing. It is all a matter of enquiry.”

Defence officials say the law allows inert ammunition to be ferried on public transport but have so far failed to explain why no alert was issued when the box did not turn up at Balasur.

The goof-up has shaken the common man’s confidence and has definitely put a question mark at our country’s security institutions.

(With inputs from Gokul Nanda)