News highlights: Train services hit after IED blast damages track in Assam's Kokrajhar

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Railway services across Lower Assam and parts of north Bengal were disrupted early on Thursday after unidentified assailants detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) on a railway track in Assam’s Kokrajhar district, officials said.

 

The explosion occurred shortly after midnight, around five kilometres from Kokrajhar railway station on the route towards Salakati, an official added.

 

“The blast ripped apart nearly three feet of railway line, with fragments of the damaged track scattered several metres away,” the official said.

 

Kokrajhar Senior Superintendent of Police Pushpraj Singh said no casualties or derailments were reported.

 

“The damage was confined to a small stretch of the track, which was quickly repaired. Train movement has now resumed,” he said.

 

Train operations were suspended overnight, disrupting several Up and Down trains across Lower Assam and northern West Bengal until about 8 am, another official said.

 

Railway and security personnel carried out detailed inspections of the affected section before services were fully restored.

 

Authorities have tightened security along the route and launched an investigation to trace and arrest those responsible for the blast.

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