No bombs on train, finds AP forensics

Hyderabad: The AP Forensic Science Laboratory on Tuesday ruled out sabotage as there were no explosives in the Bangalore-Nanded train compartment that caught fire under mysterious circumstances.

Forensic experts are now zeroing in on two findings.

First, the fact that the fire started in the middle of the coach and second, the cellphone or laptop charger plug sockets connected through wiring to the miniature circuit boards (MCBs) near the toilets were completely burnt from inside.

This clearly indicates that the origin of the fire was electrical in nature. To rule out the presence of inflammable materials, APFSL experts will conduct chemical analysis on the samples collected from the scene.

APFSL director A. Sarada submitted an interim report to director-general of police B. Prasada Rao on Tuesday at the state police headquarters. In the report, APFSL experts first ruled out an explosion on the train.

“There are no signs of a blast in the coach or on the bodies of the victims. There are neither traces of explosive substances nor parts of IEDs in the burnt coach or near the site. The fire was progressive and it was not sudden, indicating that it is not sabotage. In cases of sabotage, wherein the perpetrators would be using fuel, the fire would engulf the entire coach. That was not the case here”.

In the analysis of the coach and its electric circuits by experts, it was found that the fuses for the air conditioning at the bottom the train were intact. However, MCBs at the toilets that connected to the charger plug sockets were totally burnt. The sockets are in the middle of the coach.

An investigating official said, “This shows that something happened in the wiring. We have collected all burnt MCBs to study the circuits to ascertain whet-her there was a short circuit. The diesel and grease stains found at the site are of no significance as the bottom of the coach was intact.”