Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Sunday said that teams of the Rajasthan Anti-Terrorism Squad, National Investigation Agency and Railway Protection Force were conducting an inquiry into the explosion on a railway track near Udaipur.
The explosion took place on Sunday morning, in an area under jurisdiction of the Jawar Mines police station, located about 35 kilometres away from Udaipur, according to The Indian Express.
“Whoever has done this sort of destructive activity, they will be severely punished,” Vaishnaw said on Sunday. “We will go to the logical end to make sure that the people who have tried to destroy the track and cause a big accident...They will be punished.”
The minister added that a team has been deployed to restore the track once investigation agencies collect evidence from the blast site.
Vaishnaw added that the incident was a dangerous one due to the “recent happenings in Udaipur”, but did not elaborate.
On June 28, a tailor named Kanhaiya Lal was killed purportedly for having shared a social media post in support of suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma. She had made disparaging remarks about Prophet Muhammad during a television debate in May.
Earlier on Sunday, the Rajasthan Police said that they received information from locals about a blast on railway tracks in the district, after which explosives were recovered from the area, The Indian Express reported.
Superintendent of Police Vikas Sharma said that the explosive substances prima facie appeared to be of the kind that are used for mining.
“We are gathering all evidence,” he said. “It appears that the explosion took place last night and the railway tracks were damaged. We were informed about it this morning. A train was supposed to pass through the area, where the incident took place, at 11.30 am on Sunday.”
Unidentified officials told the newspaper that the Asarwa-Udaipur Express from Ahmedabad was slated to pass through the place where blast took place. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had flagged off the train’s inaugural run on October 31.
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