New Delhi: Howrah-bound Rajdhani Express was stopped at Ghaziabad, just 40 minutes after it had left the New Delhi railway station, and all passengers off-loaded following a bomb threat call which turned out to be a hoax.

The train was subjected to a thorough search for about two hours before being allowed to proceed as no explosive could be detected, Northern Railway Chief Public Relations Officer (PRO) Devender Singh Sandhu said.

The train was stopped at Ghaziabad station in Uttar Pradesh at around 5.40 pm, as police received a call from a mobile phone immediately after the train had left the station at 5 pm claiming that a bomb had been planted in it.

All the passengers were off-loaded and police, along with the bomb disposal squad and sniffer dogs, searched the train.

As no explosive was found, the call was dismissed as a hoax and the train was allowed to proceed at 7.35 pm.

PTI