Explosives used for Odha railway bridge blast originated from RECL factory

Dhaulpur: Explosives that were found in Aspur, nearly 70 km away from the Odha Railway bridge blast site in Udaipur, originated from the Rajasthan Explosives and Chemicals Limited (RECL) factory in the Dhaulpur district of Rajasthan and were reportedly sent to Ajmer.

Some of the explosives that were used for the blast were found in a river in Aspur. Speaking about the explosives found in Aspur, HR Manager of the RECL factory VN Srivastava said a consignment of 15 tonnes of explosives was sent from the Dholpur factory to a client namely, Krishna Sales, located in the Nizampura village in the Nasirabad tehsil of Ajmer district in Rajasthan through a truck.

As per the RECL record, the owner of the consignment is said to be one Rajendra Kumar Baheti, a resident of Gulabpura town in the Bhilwara district of Rajasthan. The data about sending such a huge consignment to Ajmer was registered with the factory.

Krishna Sales located in Gulabpura town is a bulk explosives seller registered with Rajasthan Explosives and Chemicals Limited.

Speaking about the explosives, the manager of the factory said the explosives found in the Aspur river were from Ajmer's magazine, whose information has been given to the investigating agencies. As per the factory management, the gelatin sticks found in the river were identified through the barcode pulled out from the rods.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, around 186 kg of gelatine rods were recovered in the Dungarpur city of Rajasthan, as per the official statement of the police. Aspur Station officer Savai Singh told ANI that the local villagers informed the police about the presence of gelatin rods. The rods were seized and kept at the police station.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Kamal Kumar said the police received information that the gelatin rods had been dumped in the Som river.

Gelatine rods are primarily used for mining and carrying out explosions.

Notably, the train movement on the Udaipur-Ahmedabad rail route was halted on Sunday, 13 November 2022, after an explosion took place on the broad gauge line. The explosion, which was reported near the Oda railway bridge on the Slumber-Megha highway on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday, caused damages to railway tracks.
Following the incident, teams of the Anti-Terror Squad (ATS), National Investigation Agency (NIA), and Railway Protection Force (RPF) were rushed to the spot to probe the matter. The investigation is underway.

Officials said that the Asarva-Udaipur train, which was supposed to pass from the area on Sunday morning was terminated after the incident came to light. Soon after the incident came to light, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot also took to Twitter, and wrote, "The incident of damage to rail tracks on Oda railway bridge of Udaipur-Ahmedabad route is worrying. Senior police and administration officials are on the spot, and the DG Police has been directed to the routes of this incident."

DGP Umesh Mishra said that Central investigation agencies have been roped in to carry out the investigation and nab those involved.
The broad gauge rail line between Udaipur and Ahmedabad was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 31. (ANI)