JAISALMER: A suspected terror conspiracy to blow up a railway track and target a passenger train was exposed after a powerful explosion damaged the Anupgarh-Suratgarh railway line in Rajasthan’s Sri Ganganagar district late Tuesday night. The blast took place near village 50 GB, close to Red Baggi in the Ram Singhpur area, near the India-Pakistan international border.The explosion occurred barely an hour after a passenger train had passed through the stretch, raising serious security concerns. The train, which departed Anupgarh Junction for Suratgarh around 8.30 pm, crossed the area near 9 pm. The blast reportedly took place around an hour later. The sound of the explosion was heard up to 200 metres away.The impact was powerful enough to completely shatter two concrete railway sleepers beneath the tracks, while another account suggested that three concrete sleeper pillars were damaged. The iron reinforcement rods inside the concrete blocks were left exposed. The explosion also dislodged railway track clips and created a crater nearly two feet deep beneath the tracks, disrupting rail traffic on the Anupgarh-Suratgarh section.Sri Ganganagar Superintendent of Police Harishankar Yadav reached the spot along with teams from the Intelligence Bureau, CID, Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and forensic experts. Intelligence and CID teams arrived around 2 am, followed by ATS Additional SP Surendra Kumar at around 2.15 am.SP Yadav said the intensity of the explosion, the nature of the material used and the people behind the incident were being investigated. The Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) team collected samples from the site for examination. The type of explosive used and the exact method of triggering the blast have not yet been established.Ram Singhpur Circle Inspector Ram Pratap said the passenger train had departed Anupgarh at 8.30 pm and passed near village 50 GB around 9 pm. The explosion occurred approximately an hour after the train crossed the stretch. Local residents living in a dhani nearly 200 metres away rushed towards the railway tracks after hearing the loud explosion and alerted the authorities.RPF Inspector General Jyoti Kumar Satija also visited the site on Wednesday. He said a suspicious explosion had taken place in the Anupgarh area and that the ATS, police and other security agencies were conducting an intensive investigation. The Railway Protection Force was also examining the incident independently.Rail traffic on the affected section was suspended, and four passenger services were cancelled on Wednesday, November 4. These included trains 59711, 59712, 59715 and 59716 operating between Suratgarh and Anupgarh.Meanwhile, the incident assumes significance in view of another major recovery from the border region. Security agencies recently seized 7.750 kg of suspected RDX, two Turkish-made Zigana pistols, four magazines, around 867 cartridges, five batteries and two remote controls from the Rawla Mandi area of Sri Ganganagar district. The consignment was suspected to have been dropped by a Pakistani drone on Monday night.Investigators are examining whether the railway blast and the recovery of explosives and weapons are connected. However, no official link between the two incidents has been established so far.Senior ATS officials and a Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) team are expected to conduct a detailed examination of the blast s
