CORRECTED-Angry relatives question India rail security
Source: Reuters
(Corrects spelling of BJP spokesman's second name to Javdekar from Javedkar in paragraph 11) By Nita Bhalla NEW DELHI, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Mohammed Raziuddin said it was chaos at Old Delhi's railway station when he saw his brother off on a train for Pakistan on Sunday night. "There were so many people here," the 26-year-old said, holding a photograph of his Pakistani brother. "But there was no checking and no security ... there was no discipline." Raziuddin was searching for news along with scores of other worried relatives who thronged the railway station on Monday, hours after homemade bombs exploded on a supposedly high-security train, sparking a fire that killed 66 people. Amid the concern, anger is beginning to emerge at the lack of security that allowed four large suitcases packed with explosives and fuel to be placed on the train. "The railways and the police are responsible for this because the security at the Delhi station is totally lax," said Haji Nasruddin, searching for his sister-in-law in the morgue at Panipat, a town about 80 km (50 miles) outside New Delhi near the site of the blaze. "The officials and cops there are only interested in bribes, they are only interested in the security of their pockets," said the 58-year-old white-bearded shopkeeper, wearing a white Muslim prayer cap. "They don't check who is going on or what they are carrying." On Monday, there was little sign of extra security at the massive station where the train had started its journey. A few policemen stationed at one of the many entrances asked passengers to walk through a door scanner and some bags were haphazardly searched. Inside a dozen or so policemen strolled along the dilapidated platforms or lay asleep on benches. In India, opposition politicians questioned security arrangements for a high-profile train service that connects New Delhi to the Pakistani city of Lahore and has faced threats in the past from Hindu and Muslim extremist groups. "There was definitely a security lapse," said Prakash Javdekar, spokesman for the opposition Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. "This is a transnational route and there should have been more attention paid to security procedures." Most of the victims were Pakistanis, and Islamabad also asked if its citizens had been adequately protected. "It is the responsibility of the Indian authorities to provide security to the train inside Indian territory," said foreign ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam. Pakistani Foreign Minister Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri said he would be discussing security for rail commuters between the two countries on his trip to India this week, when he will be trying to push forward a slow-moving peace process. At the station, railway officials said there were no special procedures for passengers on this train. "There are routine security procedures in place. People are checked, baggage is checked," said Kishan Kumar, ticket collector for reservations. "There are checks at the station and some random checks on the train." Around 600 people boarded the Samjhauta Express on Sunday in a station thronging with people. "I waved goodbye to my brother at the station at around 10 p.m. last night as he was going back to Karachi after spending some holidays with us here," said Mohammed Riaz. "There were so many people and no one checked us or our baggage." (Additional reporting by Y.P. Rajesh)
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