NIA chargesheets 5 ‘Lashkar operatives’ in Darbhanga railway station blast case

The case relates to an explosion at Bihar’s Darbhanga railway station on June 17, in which no one was injured. A parcel, booked in Secunderabad, was transported on board the Secunderabad-Darbhanga Express and exploded on a platform of the Darbhanga railway station.

The NIA took up the investigation a week later and found out that the alleged LeT operatives had planned to set ablaze a moving long-distance train by placing incendiary improvised explosive devices (IEDs)/parcel bomb in the train to cause loss of lives and damage to property.

The statement said: “In order to execute the task, on directions of Pakistan-based LeT operative Hafeez Iqbal @ Iqbal Kana, accused Mohd Nasir Khan and Imran Malik fabricated an IED using locally procured chemicals and placed the same in a parcel of clothes.”

The parcel, the statement said “was booked in Secunderabad-Darbhanga Express which departs in the night with an intention that on triggering of the incendiary IED, the cloth parcel would ignite and further spread fire in other parcels booked in the van converting it into a large conflagration”.

The investigation further revealed that “accused Nasir Khan had travelled to Pakistan and received training in espionage, handling of arms and ammunition and fabricating IEDs” and “received funds from Pakistan on various occasions”.

“After the incident, the Pakistan-based handlers had tried to facilitate the escape of arrested accused to foreign country through Nepal. However they were apprehended before they could escape,” the Home Ministry said.

The chargesheet was filed in the NIA special court in Patna, under sections 120B, 468 and 471 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Explosive Substances Act, 1908 and sections 16, 17, 18, 18B, 20, 23, 38, 39 and 40 of the UA(P) Act.

The investigation in the case is still going on.