In what is seen as a sabotage attempt, a live pipe bomb with detonators and timers was found placed on the railway track at Veloor bridge near Piravom Road station on Thursday morning.

What saved the day was that one of the two wires was not connected to the detonator. “Otherwise, it would have been a powerful blast on the main train route of the Trivandrum division,” bomb disposal experts said. This is a main crossing point in the section where trains halt, especially during nights.

It was around 10 a.m .that a railway supervisor Sudheesh found the suspicious material placed below a signal box and alerted railway and police authorities.

Train movement through the route was affected for two hours as bomb disposal and dog squads rushed to the site.

The tiffin box was first removed from the track to facilitate train movement by noon. The bomb was defused four hours later.

A native of Ernakulam and bus driver, identified as Thomas, was being questioned as the steel tiffin box in which the bomb was found had his two-wheeler number scribbled on it.

“We suspect that the bomb was placed by an expert on Wednesday night. But what baffled us was that one of the wires was not connected.

The box had three batteries, two PVC pipes, a green wire, a timer and the explosive chemical solution,” said Thalayolaparambu sub-inspector K J Thomas.

“It was a serious subversion attempt and we’re not ruling out other possibilities. The exact nature of the forensic material can be known only after examination.

A detailed probe into the incident will be led by a team headed by Pala DySP Ramesh Kumar,” Kottayam superintendent of police C Rajagopal said.

Pipe bomb could damage four compartments

The pipe bomb that was found in a tiffin box near the railway track at Velloor in Kottayam district, was capable of causing damage to at least four compartments, according to sources in the anti-sabotage team that conducted the inspection.

Prima facie, the explosive used in the bomb was glycerine nitrate, normally used for explosions of a very high degree.

The sources also said that the bomb had a few wires to be connected to two parts — a live one and a dummy.

Had the live side been connected along with a detonator, it could have caused major damage, if triggered.

The dummy side of the bomb had a battery connected with a timer, but was not connected to the explosives. It also had a black melted substance on it which, experts said, was paint.

The timer also had a moving seconds needle. It is learnt that the dummy was designed to mislead bomb experts.

Sources also said the bomb was not made by an expert as it had several flaws.

Though it had all the necessary components it was not connected properly, which, fortunately, kept the bomb from exploding.

Since it had explosives, the sleuths believe the attempt was either to hit the target or create a scare.
The bomb was taken to the science laboratory and details were expected to come out after it was examined.

Police start investigation

The bomb which was found at the Piravom road at Vellur on Thursday morning, was intended to explode and not just create panic among the people, said district police chief C.Rajagopal.

He said that the bomb failed to explode as the wires were not correctly connected. The police have found the original detonator and the dummy detonator from the place.

The police have the number of an autorickshaw (KL-038403) owned by Thomas, a native of Edathuvayal, from the tiffin box. Joseph, son of Thomas, was taken into custody. He is being questioned.

The police said that some unidentified people were seen on Wednesday night at the place, and the cops were looking out for them too.

NIA DySP Vikraman reached the spot from Cochin. He inspected the area. The police are also trying to find out whether the incident has any link with the bomb blast that occurred at the Ernakulam Collectorate.