Terror strike averted; explosives, timer found near Ambala station

A major terror strike was averted in Ambala, Haryana on Thursday morning when a huge amount of explosives was found outside a railway station.

Two timers and five detonators, along with almost five kg of explosives, were found in a car outside Ambala cantonment railway station.

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 on Wednesday night.

"Five detonators, two timer devices, five kg explosives in two packets and two batteries were seized from the car parked outside the railway station," said Haryana's Director General of Police Ranjiv Dalal.

Dalal, along with senior officials of the Haryana police, rushed to the spot.

Bomb disposal squads were summoned from Madhuban and other neighbouring places.

A box of sweets was found lying in the car, purchased from Jammu's Bari Brahmna area, besides two newspapers from Jammu and Kashmir.

The car bore 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, the police would also be probing if the target could have been a military installation in the region.

The explosives have been sent for forensic tests and a team of the National Security Guard from Delhi has been rushed to the spot, said the police, adding that the nature of explosives was being studied.

Security agencies will be going through the CCTV footage 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 bore the registration number HR-O3-R-0055.

The tyres of the vehicle and some other parts were removed to check for the presence of any more explosives, sources said.

In view of the approaching festival of Diwali, vigil has been stepped up around key installations and crowded public places, including railway stations.