Indo-Pak Samjhauta Express, which was suspended due to security reasons in the wake of the assassination of former Pakistan premier Benazir Bhutto, resumed its service on Sunday. The decision was taken after consultation with the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of External Affairs and railway officials of Pakistan, another official said. No decision has been taken on the resumption of services of the Thar Express.
At least 68 people were killed in a fire that engulfed the Samjhauta Express after blasts in the train in the northern Indian state of Haryana.
The days of running for the Lahore-Attari-Delhi trains have been changed.
The Samjhauta Express carrying some 150 passengers left Lahore railway station for India, Radio Pakistan reported.
The railways run the train on Sundays from Delhi to Attari and back, while Pakistan used to run the train between Lahore and Attari. Passengers used to change trains at the Attari station.
With no breakthrough in the over three-year-old Samjhauta Express blast case, the Centre has decided to handover its probe to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to unravel the conspiracy.
The two countries are contemplating introducing an Advance Information Passenger Information System wherein both sides exchange information on details of passengers travelling on these trains, Railway Ministry sources said.
About 14 kg of heroin being smuggled from Pakistan in the trans-border Samjhauta Express were seized and four passengers of the train arrested for allegedly carrying the contraband, having a street value of Rs 70 crore, officials said here on Tuesday.
No date of resumption of services has been fixed so far, they said.
On a petition filed by the National Investigation Agency challenging the verdict of its special court in Samjhauta Express blast case, the Punjab and Haryana high court issued a notice to accused Aseemanand for November 8.
The train will start running from the Indian side on Sunday, while on the Pakistan side it will leave Lahore on Monday on its return journey.
Dhan Singh, a prime suspect in the 2007 Samjhauta Express blast case, was on Thursday remanded in the custody of National Investigation Agency till December 28 in the 2008 Malegaon blast case by the special National Investigation Agency court in Mumbai.
Railway officials in New Delhi said the train has not been suspended.
The minister went around the station for about half an hour along with senior ministry officials and security personnel inspecting security arrangements, and met passengers of the 'Friendship Train'.
On the quota for other backward classes in higher education, he said this was necessary to improve the lot of the downtrodden.
The report said on the day of the blasts, there were no "permanent or temporary" speed restrictions on the up line in the Samalkha-Diwana section and at Old Delhi railway station.
Kamal Chauhan, a disgruntled Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh worker arrested by the National Investigation Agency, had planted bombs on board Samjhauta Express in 2007 after undergoing training in arms and explosives in Haryana and Madhya Pradesh, the agency claimed on Tuesday.
The Centre on Wednesday said the probe into the Samjhauta Express train bomb blasts, in which 43 Pakistani nationals were killed, was still on to find out the identities of all perpetrators of the crime.
The Indian response came as Pakistan summoned India's Acting Deputy High Commissioner S Raghuram and expressed concern over the cancellation of operation of Samjhauta Express on Thursday due to farmer protest in India leaving over 200 passengers from both countries stranded.
The two, identified as Huzaifa of Abhinandan Bag Centre and the shop manager Poonam Singh Thakur, were taken to Panipat or Chandigarh after seeking permission of the court for further probe.
The fire had started when the train was at Diwana railway station near Panipat in Haryana, it said.
All 100 passengers on the India-bound Samjhauta Express train escaped unhurt after its engine caught fire due to an electrical short circuit in Pakistan's Punjab province, officials said.
A day after Islamabad downgraded diplomatic ties with New Delhi over developments in Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan's Federal Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told the media in Islamabad on Thursday that Pakistan has closed the Samjhauta Express train service with India.
The BJP has accused the Congress party of fabricating the theory of 'Hindu terror' to undermine Narendra Modi and appease Muslim voters. This statement follows the acquittal of seven individuals in the Malegaon blast case. The BJP demands compensation for the acquitted and an apology from the prosecution.
The partisan political games being played by Indian investigative agencies seem to have boomeranged, observes B Raman
Pakistan on Thursday said India was trying to "exonerate" individuals suspected to be involved in the 2007 Samjhauta Express blasts that killed more than 42 Pakistanis and sought "fair investigation" in the case.
For the first time a serving army officer was accused of terrorism.
The recent arrests made by the National Investigation Agency in connection with the Samjhauta Express blast case could see the probe meeting a logical end soon. Vicky Nanjappa reports
Pakistan on Friday summoned India's deputy high commissioner and lodged a protest over the Indian government's failure to contest the conditional bail to Swami Assemanand, chargesheeted in connection with the 2007 Samjhauta Express blast that killed 68 people, including 42 Pakistanis.
Among the Pakistani victims, five are male and two female.
As the NIA takes over the probe into the February 2007 blast on the Samjhauta Express, Vicky Nanjappa reports on the long and winding road the investigation has taken so far
Pakistan on Monday welcomed Home Minister P Chidambaram's remarks about sharing the findings of the probe into the Samjhauta Express bombing, claiming that the level of cooperation on interaction on security matters had enhanced between the two nations. Welcoming his Indian counterpart's statement in this regard, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said, "I welcome the statement of Mr Chidambaram on Samjhauta Express investigations to be shared with Pakistan."
In the second arrest in as many days in the Samjhauta Express blast case, Dhan Singh, a prime suspect, was on Monday arrested by the National Investigation Agency from Madhya Pradesh. The arrest came even as the NIA told a Panchkula court that Rajender Chaudhary alias Pehalwan, who allegedly planted a bomb in the Pakistan-bound Samjhauta Express in 2007, played a key role in the entire operation.
The two countries faced great problems in identification of the deceased passengers.
Investigators probing Samjhauta Express blast case have claimed to have found evidence of right-wing activist Swami Aseemanand's alleged involvement in the 2007 terror act. "After the probe by the National Investigation Agency it is getting clear that Aseemanand and his accomplices were involved in Samjhauta blast," sources privy to the investigation said.
Luggage restrictions on Samjhauta train during cricket series\n\n\n\n
The National Investigation Agency says that with the arrest of Rajendra Chowdhary the probe in the Samjhauta Express, Mecca Masjid and Ajmer blasts is almost complete. Vicky Nanjappa reports
For Malegaon's Muslims, Rahul Gandhi's remarks were simply one more indication that the party they once supported no longer cares for them, notes Jyoti Punwani.
The Thar Express has been running between Jodhpur and Karachi since services resumed on February 18, 2006 after a 41-year suspension.
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