Guwahati, June 17 (IANS) About 1,000 passengers of a long-distance train had a miraculous escape here when a powerful bomb was found on board early Friday. The explosive was soon defused by bomb experts.

 
 The security forces detected a bomb in a steel container, concealed inside a bag, in coach S5 of the Kanchenjunga Express. It was fitted with a timer and was detected by security forces during a routine check shortly after the train from Bangalore arrived in Guwahati around 5.15 a.m.
 
 "Security forces were conducting a routine search when they found an unattended small but heavy bag and on suspicion they checked and detected the bomb neatly concealed," a senior police officer said.
 
 The passengers were immediately evacuated from the station and a bomb disposal squad was summoned.
 
 "It was an improvised explosive device weighing about five kg and fitted with a timer. It was a powerful bomb and had it exploded, it would have been a disaster," the officer said. The bomb was disposed of soon thereafter.
 
 Preliminary investigations revealed that the bag containing the bomb could have been left inside the coach sometime during the night in the Assam sector.
 
 "We don't know who could be behind the act, but definitely some militant group from Assam who are opposed to the peace talks might have been behind this," he added.