Bhopal train bombers sent pix of pipe bomb to Syria

The perpetrators of Bhopal-Ujjain train bomb explosion were influenced by Islamic State ideology and the incident was a "trial blast" as the terrorists planned to carry out more attacks, the Madhya Pradesh government said on Wednesday.

Speaking in Madhya Pradesh Assembly, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said said that those who orchestrated the blast arrived from Lucknow and planted the bomb in the passenger train as part of a "pre-planned conspiracy".

At least 10 people were injured, three of them seriously, in the Improvised Explosive Device blast in the train near Jabdi station in Shajapur district of Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday.

"The terrorists were influenced by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria terror ideology and carried out the blast. It was a pre-planned conspiracy," Chouhan said in the assembly during the ongoing budget session.

Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Bhupendra Singh said the IED explosion in the passenger train was a "trial blast".

"Yesterday's explosion carried out through IED was a trial blast. The police, however, smashed this terror network within five hours after the blast in train," Singh told media persons in the state assembly premises.

The terrorists had plans to orchestrate the blasts at some other places also, he claimed.

Earlier, speaking to mediapersons at Barwah town in Khargone district late Tuesday night, Chouhan said, "Police detained three terrorists who planted bomb in Bhopal-Ujjain passenger train. It was revealed during initial interrogation from the arrested terrorists that they were connected to ISIS."

"The blast site smelt of deadly explosives. I would like to congratulate the ATS and police who immediately acted. Madhya Pradesh is a peaceful state and nobody would be allowed to create disturbance here," he said.

These terrorists had arrived in Bhopal from Lucknow and planted the bomb in the Bhopal-Ujjain train, he said.

Assuring concrete proof that the terrorists responsible for the Bhopal-Ujjain passenger train blast were affiliated with the Islamic State, Chief Minister Chouhan had told ANI on Tuesday said that after placing the pipe bomb in the train, the terrorists had then proceeded to send the pictures to Syria.

Chouhan further informed that the terrorists, who hailed from Kanpur and Kannauj had made plans to rush back to Lucknow once their nefarious plans to set off the bomb had come through.

"The explosives recovered from them had inscriptions on it saying 'ISIS -- we are in India'. The terrorists even uploaded the picture of the pipe bomb they had placed in the train and the then sent it to Syria. So it's proof that they were related to ISIS," he said.

The chief minister also revealed that the terrorists had learned the mechanism of making a bomb on the internet and then trained to carry out the explosion.

"They had placed the timer of the bomb in such a way that it explodes in two hours. Fortunately the pipe bomb was placed in an upper berth, which significantly reduced the damage and loss of lives in the attack. Our ATS was in constant touch with central agencies and nabbed them. Ateef Mazaffar was their mastermind and Mohammad Danish and Sayyed Mir Hussain were also caught," he said.

Referring to the jail break by SIMI activists and the subsequent encounter in which eight men of the banned outfit were killed last year, the CM said, "Attempts have been made to disturb peace but it has been nipped in the bud by the alert state police. An act of terror won't be allowed to thrive in the state."

In an official statement released late Tuesday night, the UP police had said that three persons were arrested by Madhya Pradesh police in Piparia town in Hoshangabad.

Two of the arrested persons are from Kanpur, while one is from Aligarh.

Additional inputs: ANI