26 August 2004	Thursday	09 Rajab 1425

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NOWSHERA, Aug 25: Police have started investigation into a railway track blast about 44km east of Peshawar. Some miscreants on Tuesday evening blew up the track in an attempt to derail a Peshawar-bound passenger train, but the explosion occurred minutes before its arrival.

Provincial Police Chief Riffat Pasha told newsmen on the spot that they were taking the incident as a high-profile case and would investigate it from all possible angles. "We are taking all possible measures to pre-empt terrorist attacks," he said.

According to police, a bomb placed under a railway track near Suryakhel went off with a big bang at around 7.15pm, 10 minutes before the arrival of the Quetta Express which was full to capacity.

The train was stopped at Akora Khattak, barely three kilometres from the site of the blast. Two farmers working in a nearby field had informed about the blast, the police said.

"We immediately called railway people and got the train stopped. Thus, a major disaster was averted," SP Nowshera Mazharul Haq Kakakhel told Dawn. The farmers have been given a cash reward for informing the police well in time.

The police seized from the site an electronic fuse and splinters of the bomb that weighed around two kilograms. "All evidence and circumstances suggest that it was a sabotage attempt," the SP Nowshera said.

He said that apparently the explosive device was timed to go off with the arrival of the train. "Luckily, the train was late and terrorists missed their target," he said. The explosion left behind a crater which was one foot deep and four feet in diameter.

No arrests have been made, but the police official said two railway guards were missing since the explosion, that was also being looked into. The police, he said, was investigating as to which (militant) groups used those types of improvised devices.