The search is on at Malda station. Picture by Surajit Roy

Malda/Siliguri, July 6: The Railway Protection Force issued an alert last night that either Maoists or KLO militants might blow up a station in the Malda division within a fortnight.

Security in and around the office of the divisional railway manager (DRM) and the Malda Town station has been heightened. Sniffer dogs have been pressed into service and all trains are being thoroughly searched.

The divisional security commissioner of the Eastern Railway, Ramashankar Prasad, said according to the alert, the Maoists or KLO militants might carry out an explosion at Malda or Kishanganj station or the DRM’s office any moment.

“We are taking no chances. All the long distance and local trains are being thoroughly searched. We have asked for additional forces from the district police. The threat to blow up Malda station is unprecedented,” said Prasad.

M.S. Punia, the superintendent of the Government Railway Police in Siliguri, said he, too, had received an alert for the Malda Town station.

Malda DRM Anup Sahu, who held an emergency meeting with senior officials this morning, said everyone has been asked to remain alert. Additional forces have been deployed at all vital installations of the railways, he added.

District police chief Dilip Mondal said police in mufti were keeping watch in and around the railway stations. All the police stations in the district have been asked to heighten surveillance.

D. Kholi, the additional chief security commissioner of Northeast Frontier Railway, said a similar alert has been issued for the New Jalpaiguri-Alipurduar route.

Yesterday, the search on trains yielded 43 kg of marijuana worth Rs 12 lakh from the Howrah-bound Kamrup Express.