Bomb scare stalls train carrying MP CM-designate

The Delhi-Bhopal Shatabdi Express, in which Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister-designate Shivraj Singh Chauhan was travelling, was on Monday stranded at the railway station in Jhansi for 45 minutes following a bomb scare, railway officials said. The train, however, proceeded on its journey after no suspicious objects were found during a search by bomb squads and sniffer dogs, Divisional Railway Manager (Jhansi) V K Singh told PTI over phone.

A call was received at the railway control room here from Delhi and the caller said there was a bomb in the Shatabdi Express following which the district police was alerted, DIG Jhansi range Devendra Singh Chauhan said. Senior police, railway and adminstrative officials rushed to the spot to oversee the search operations, he said adding the CM-designate had been informed about the call.

Chauhan, who was named as the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister on Saturday, was travelling on the train to Bhopal where he is expected to be formally elected as the leader of Bharatiya Janata Party legislature party in a meeting Monday evening.