Friday, July 29 2005 19:12 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Lucknow: A timer device could have been used to detonate the blast in the Shramjeevi Express train near Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh Government said today (July 29, 2005) ruling out the explosion as an accident.

"Some wire and other materials seized from the blast site suggest that timer device could have been used to trigger the blast in Shramjeevi Express yesterday evening (July 28, 2005)", Principal Secretary (Home) Alok Sinha, who visited the blast site yesterday, told newspersons here.

The explosives were kept in a brief case and planted in the packed general compartment, Sinha said ruling out chances of it being an accident.

"It was neither an accidental blast nor a cylinder blast", he said adding the explosion was massive.

Railway Minister Laloo Prasad had yesterday said that the blast could have been due to a gas cylinder blast inside the train.

Sinha said vital material has been seized from the site by forensic experts and all state agencies have been deployed to carry out the investigations to arrive at a final conclusion.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the blast, he said.