The Puri-New Delhi Purushotam Express train was halted for more than three hours at the Tundla station in Uttar Pradesh in the early hours of Thursday after railway authorities were alerted about suspected terrorists travelling with explosives but it turned out to be a hoax, officials said.
"We received an information from an X handle that suspected terrorists were travelling on the train with explosives, which they would plant in the Air India Delhi-Leh flight. We initiated action but it turned out to be a hoax," an official from the Prayagraj Rail Division said.
"Around 2:40 am, the passengers of all coaches were woken up and their luggage was checked thoroughly with metal detectors and a dog squad but nothing was found," the official added.
However, some railway officials alleged that the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and the Government Railway Police (GRP) acted almost an hour after receiving the input.
When contacted, A K Sinha, the chief security commissioner of the North Central Railway, did not respond to the allegations.
"In one hour, the train crossed prominent stations in Uttar Pradesh, such as Etawah, Shikohabad and Firozabad, after which it was halted at Tundla at 2:40 am for an intense check. Thorough search operations went on for more than three hours but nothing was found," a source said.
Several railway officials, privy to the search operation, criticised the delayed action which, according to them, poses a question on the promptness of both the RPF and the GRP "in case of a terror attack".
According to the railway officials, around 9:30 pm on Wednesday, an X user posted a threatening message on his handle on the microblogging platform and spoke about people travelling on the Puri-New Delhi Purushottam Express train with explosives to be placed in the New-Delhi Leh Air India flight.
"Tagging the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), another X user re-posted the message at 12:47 am, requesting railway authorities to take necessary action before anything untoward happens.
"We do not know what happened after that but at 1:30 am, the RPF Allahabad informed the Tundla control room about this input and directed it to stop the train for search operations. At that time, the train was at the Etawah station and Tundla is about an hour-long run from Etawah," the source said.
"The train crossed prominent stations, such as Shikohabad and Firozabad, but it was not stopped anywhere for checking. After more than an hour, it was finally halted at Tundla at 2:40 am amid tight security of dozens of RPF, GRP and local police personnel," he added.
The railway officials said a bomb squad was called in from Firozabad and it arrived at the Tundla station at 3:30 am. A dog squad was also sent from Agra and it reached Tundla at 4:20 am.
"Once the train stopped, the passengers in all coaches, including First AC, were woken up and their luggage was checked thoroughly with metal detectors and the dog squad but nothing was found," an official said.
According to the officials, many passengers, who had flights or trains to catch for their onward journeys, deboarded at Tundla and took another train to reach Delhi.
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