Passengers of two trains had a narrow escape and train services were disrupted for six hours when a blast destroyed three feet of rail track in Tamil Nadu’s Villupuram district, 160 km from Chennai, early Saturday. State agencies suspect LTTE sympathisers critical of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to be behind the explosion.
The Salem Express felt a huge jolt while crossing Sithanai village in Villupuram district around 2.20am, forcing the guard to contact station masters of the Perani and Mundiambakkam railway stations.
The passengers of the Chennai-bound Rockfort Express from Tiruchirappali had a miraculous escape when the driver, after getting a warning about the blast, stopped the train. He halted it about 200 feet from the spot where the tracks had been destroyed.
No one claimed responsibility for the explosion. But unconfirmed reports said the police recovered a paper stating the blast was to protest against the June 8-11 visit of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to India.
Neither train suffered any damage, and normal services resumed around 9am. After the track was repaired, the first train to use it was the Rockfort Express.
“The blast damaged three feet of track and caused a four feet crater,” said a police official. Villupuram Deputy Inspector General of Police E Ma Masanamuthu said that the railway control centre in Chennai immediately alerted the Rockfort Express that was approaching the spot. “Proceeding cautiously, the Rockfort
Express driver stopped the train on seeing a big gap on the tracks, saving hundreds of lives,” Masanamuthu added.
Many fringe organisations had staged a black flag protest in Tamil Nadu to protest Rajapaksa’s visit to India. Experts, however, ruled out the possibility of LTTE elements regrouping in India.
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