Sriganganagar - A joint team of the Rajasthan Police Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) and Sriganganagar district police on Saturday arrested two alleged conspirators from Punjab's Gurdaspur district in connection with the November 3 explosion that damaged a railway track in Rajasthan's Sriganganagar district, officials said. The arrested accused were identified as Mahakdeep Kaur, 21, and Davinder Singh, 22, both residents of Gurdaspur. ADG (ATS) Dinesh MN said the two were involved in the railway track blast, and a police team has been sent to Punjab as part of the investigation.

Source: Times of India via Jaipur News

Police said two weapons, 46 cartridges and Rs 30,000 were recovered from Kaur, and investigators alleged that she had received money for carrying out the blast. These are police allegations at this stage and have not been proven in court. Police have also detained three other people suspected of helping the accused. Bikaner Range IG Om Prakash told TOI that one of the detained men allegedly provided the duo with shelter, another arranged a motorcycle and the third took them to the spot to show them the railway track.

Source: Times of India via Jaipur News

News agency ANI, reporting from Sri Ganganagar on November 15, also confirmed the two arrests in connection with the blast on the Anupgarh-Suratgarh railway line near 50 GB village, and said other individuals suspected of involvement or of assisting in the incident had been detained. ANI spelt the second accused's name as Devendra Singh. It said Bikaner IG Om Prakash and Sri Ganganagar SP Harishankar were personally questioning the accused, and that IPS officer Nitin Chaudhary is conducting the investigation into the case.

Source: ANI via Khelja

The explosion occurred at around 9.45 pm on November 3 near Ramsinghpur. It shattered two concrete-and-steel sleepers, damaged the rails and left a crater about 2.5 feet deep. The Anupgarh-Suratgarh passenger train had passed through the stretch barely 75 minutes earlier, raising fears that a moving train could have been targeted. Awaaz Punjab reported the suspected blast and the ATS and forensic probe at the time; no arrest had been made in the case until now, and a week after the blast police had said the conspiracy behind it was yet to be cracked.

Source: Times of India via Jaipur News

Police are yet to establish the motive behind the blast. An officer said investigators suspect the two acted at someone else's behest and are probing the possibility of a larger conspiracy. Police have not ruled out sabotage or any other angle, and are speaking to Punjab Police to check the accused's previous records and whether they were affiliated with any outfit. After the November 3 incident, Sri Ganganagar SP Harishankar had said there was no established link with the 7.5 kg of RDX recently recovered in the border region.

Source: ANI via Khelja

The two arrested suspects are being interrogated by Sriganganagar police, while investigators look for others who may have been involved in the blast, officials said. More details are awaited as the investigation continues.

Source: ANI via Khelja