Five iron pipes stuffed with mud, pebbles and a yellow chemical triggered a bomb scare at Howrah station on Tuesday night.
CID officers claimed the 8inchX3inch pipes that were found in three bags in a general compartment of the Falaknuma Express were not improvised explosive devices as there were no detonators to trigger a blast.
But the fact that the pipes resembled an IED without a detonator has raised the possibility that "half-manufactured" IEDs were being smuggled into the city for their completion and use here.
The pipes, covered in a blanket, were stored overnight in an abandoned area near platform 1. On Wednesday afternoon, a team of officers from the bomb disposal squad detonated them under controlled circumstances.
"The pipes were not IEDs. They were stuffed with sand, pebbles and a chemical, whose samples have been sent for test," said inspector-general, CID-II, Vineet Goyal.
"Unlike an IED, none of the pipes had a detonator. Since we are not aware of the composition of the chemical, we did not take chances. All the procedures (of disposal) were followed."
Experts say an explosive device do not usually explode without a detonator. But a blast cannot be ruled out if it undergoes a "shock" caused by "mishandling or a sudden jerk", said an IPS officer with years of experience in handling bombs.
Last October, a blast inside a flat at Khagragarh in Burdwan had claimed the lives of two Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen operatives. Police had seized from the flat several galvanised iron pipes - almost of the same size found in Howrah - stuffed with explosives and splinters. The chemicals stuffed inside could result in high-intensity blasts, the police had said.
Since the pipes were found in an unreserved compartment, it will be almost impossible to find out who had left them there, a railway official said.
Panic spread at the station along with the news of the "bombs". The police, however, did not allow the situation to spiral out of control and train services were not disrupted.
An officer wondered why someone would leave behind "half-manufactured" explosives at a public place. "It could be a mistake or a deliberate act.... Maybe he had felt that circumstances were not favourable and he abandoned the bags," the officer said.
Lake Gardens injury
A couple and their daughter were seriously injured during a fight between the man and his wife in their Lake Gardens flat early on Wednesday, police said. Tuhin Basu Roy, 49, is admitted to Belle Vue Clinic with severe burns, while his wife, Sarbani, 42, and daughter Tithi, 13 are being treated for multiple cuts at AMRI Hospitals in Dhakuria.
Clash
Two contractors' unions - one backed by Trinamul and other by Left parties - clashed at Nagarayan Bhavan in Salt Lake on Wednesday. Six persons were injured. Nagarayan Bhavan houses the urban development department. The clash broke out over a tender.
