Detonators detected on rail tracks

SANGAREDDY: In what appears to have been a deliberate attempt at mischief, some persons planted five detonators on the Hyderabad-Mumbail railway track on the outskirts of Tellapur in Ramachandrapuram mandal of Medak district, triggering panic among the locals and the police alike.However, investigators said that going by the material found in the explosives and the way it was planted, the impact would have been minimal even if it had gone off. But the police are not letting down their guard. The detonators were discovered Saturday morning when a few passersby noticed wires dangling from the railway underpass. The underpass is used as a shortcut by villagers travelling between Tellapur to Patancheru. Suspicions roused, they informed the Ramachandrapuram police and the railway staff. After confirming that detonators were planted under the tracks, the cops alerted the higher-ups.Secunderabad railway superintendent of police M Kantha Rao and Medak SP Avinash Mohanty rushed a bomb disposal squad to the spot, which defused the detonators. Later, the police discovered more gelatine sticks near the spot. Spooked by this, they decided to check the entire length of the tracks from Tellapur to Secunderabad. A case was also registered by the Nampally railway police.Investigators said that going by the way the explosive was packed, it was not the work of a professional. There were five cone-shaped white packets with the label ‘IDEAL Explosives, Nalgonda.’ Inside was a mixture of chemicals including urea. “There were different colours of chemicals inside the packets which was connected to a fuse wire,” they said. Such explosives are normally used in blasting quarries. The packets were kept away from each other, indicating that the planter did not know that the packets  had to be kept together for maximum impact. Investigators said that the fuse wire  had also been lit but it failed to go off. “The intention seems to be to create panic and it does not appear to be the work of an anti-national outfit,” a police official said.