New Delhi: No proof of tampering of tracks found, says a preliminary rail ministry probe.
The Bihar police is probing whether the November 21 Kanpur train derailment that killed 148 people was an act of sabotage with possible ties to Pakistani spy agency ISI.
The Indore-Patna Express went off the tracks near Kanpur Dehat in Pukhrayan on November 21.
The Bihar police arrested three persons on Tuesday on charges of involvement in the incident.
“One of three accused has told investigators that they planted a pressure cooker-based improvised explosive device near the railway track in Kanpur which resulted in the derailment. But his confession needed to be verified by independent corroboratory evidence. They claim to have done it for money,” said a central counter-terror official who spoke on the condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media.
The UP anti-terrorist squad (ATS), Lucknow and the National Investigating Agency (NIA) are likely to quiz the three detainees, since there is the suspicion that their handler, identified as Shamshul Hoda of Nepal, may have ISI links.
The official added that it was being suspected that the accused were hired through a chain of handlers sitting in Nepal and Dubai and the Dubai-based handler was connected to those in Pakistan.
