Ambala (Haryana): A possible terror attack

was foiled just days before the Diwali festival with the

recovery of over 5-kg explosives and detonators from a car

parked outside the Ambala Cantt Railway Station, police said

today.

Acting on a tip-off, a joint police team of Delhi and

Haryana found the explosives in a blue Indica car parked

outside the railway station last night.

"Five detonators, two timer devices, five kg explosives

in two packets and two batteries were seized from the car

lying parked outside the railway station," Haryana`s Director

General of Police, Ranjiv Dalal, who along with senior

officials of Haryana Police rushed to the spot, said.

Bomb disposal squads were summoned from Madhuban and

other neighbouring places.

A box of sweets was found lying in the car, which showed

that it was purchased from Jammu`s Bari Brahmna area besides

two newspapers from Jammu and Kashmir.

The car was bearing a fake Haryana registration number

and police suspect that it was a stolen one.

When asked if the intended target of the terror plot

could have been Delhi, Dalal said, "Senior officers from

various investigating and security agencies are here. We are

probing every angle".

As the cantonment area is also located in Ambala, police

would also be probing if the target could have been a military

installation in the region.

The explosives have been sent for forensic test and a

team of National Security Guard (NSG) from Delhi has been

rushed to the spot, police said, adding the nature of

explosives was being studied.

Security agencies will be going through the CCTV footages

available at various toll barriers in Punjab and Haryana

through which the car may have passed, police sources said.

After recovery of the explosives, security personnel

thoroughly checked the car, which was bearing the registration

number HR-O3-R-0055.

The tyres of the vehicle and some other parts were

removed to check for presence of any more explosives, the

sources said.

In view of the approaching Diwali festival, vigil has

been stepped up around key installations and crowded public

places including the railway stations in the state.

According to preliminary investigations, the captured

CCTV footage showed the car had two occupants, police sources

said.

Police is now trying to verify the details and hunt down

those who drove the car to Ambala cantt, which falls along

National Highway number 1, about 200 km from Delhi.

Delhi Police had been trailing the vehicle and it was

said to have yesterday passed from the Lakhanpur toll barrier

along Jammu-Pathankot barrier, a police official said.

It was Delhi Police who alerted their Haryana

counterparts about the car after which Haryana Police

officials, Government Railway Police and the Railway

Protection Force personnel rushed to the spot.

Initial investigations point out that the car laden with

explosives was headed for Delhi and was abandoned by its

occupant(s) who may have turned suspicious about security

agencies trailing the vehicle.

The explosives which was headed in the shape of a

consignment to some destination could have caused a major

explosion and inflicted casualties, but the timely action

helped avert a major tragedy, the sources said.

Asked if terror outfit LeT could have been behind the

plot, senior police officials who were present here said, all

the angles were being probed and at the moment various

agencies were coordinating to unearth the entire conspiracy.

An alert had been sounded in Haryana and neighbouring

Punjab and security personnel had been asked to remain on

alert and maintain strict vigil and track any suspicious

movement of people or vehicles.

Efforts were on to trace the original owner of the car

and police and other security personnel were also trying to

take accounts from eyewitnesses who may seen the car driver.

Police said the fake number put on the car is registered

in the name of a Panchkula-based business enterprise.

PTI