TOBA TEK SINGH, Jan 22: Railway police on Sunday recovered a bomb from a compartment of the Chenab Express going to Karachi from Peshawar. Reports said as soon as the train arrived at the station here, some passengers informed railway police about the bomb in a shopping bag placed in a compartment. The police brought the bomb out of the train which was allowed to continue its journey.

The local civil defence staff and Jhang bomb disposal staff were called immediately to defuse the device, but they were unaware about its formation.

The authorities concerned then tried to contact the Pakistan Air Force staff at Shorkot Air Base but due to a fault in the optical fibre it was not possible. However, DCO Nawazish Ali himself went to Shorkot, from where he brought PAF’s bomb disposal officials. The PAF staff tried to defuse the device, failing which they returned back to their base to bring an X-ray machine to detect the type of the explosive material used in the device. Till the filing of this report, the PAF officials could not return here.

The news of bomb’s presence created panic among the passengers and other people at the station. The police made strict security arrangements in and around the railway station after recovery of the bomb.

The police said no one was arrested from the train in connection with the incident, as it could not be ascertained who had placed the device in the compartment.

Meanwhile, the telephonic and internet contact between Toba Tek Singh and other parts of the country remained suspended for six hours on Sunday. As a result, mobile phone, internet and wireless services remained suspended.

The suspension caused a loss of millions of rupees to the PTCL and other pay phone, internet and mobile phone companies.

A PTCL official claimed that optical fibre got snapped when the Sui Northern Gas Pipeline staff was laying a gas supply pipeline near Thikriwala in Faisalabad district. The telephone services in Jhang, Gojra, Kamalia and Pirmahal were also affected.