Police have ruled out sabotage, and say it could be an accident. Among those injured is a passenger suspected to be carrying a set of detonators in the general compartment of the train headed for Nagpur. The one-and-a-half inch commercial detonators, which are easily available in the market, were meant for blasting stones, Government Railway Police (GRP) sources said.

The GRP has booked this passenger for negligence and illicit transport of explosive substance. He has been identified as Manoj Bahuri Himran Munda (22) of Jimner in Kurda tehsil of Ranchi district, Bihar.

The victims were removed to the Mayo Hospital here after the train reached Nagpur. Munda was taken into custody while the rest were discharged after treatment.

Superintendent of GRP at Nagpur Vineet Agarwal ruled out thepossibility of sabotage, and suggested that the incident that occurred at around 5.30 am yesterday, was more of an accident caused by negligence.

Munda, who works at a stone quarry in Surat, was on his way back to his village along with a few unskilled labourers from his district. They boarded the train at Surat, with Munda possessing a ticket for Rourkela from where he was to board a bus for Ranchi. He had kept over a dozen detonators in his suitcase, with the idea of using them to dig a well in his village home, Agarwal said. The explosion may have resulted due to friction caused by a sudden jerk in the moving train, he added.

Initially, Munda feigned ignorance about the detonators when a GRP team reached the spot for inspection. However, the GRP men identified him on the basis of a security badge -- usually worn on shoulders by security guards -- recovered from the spot.

One of the badges was found on Munda and he was again questioned about the incident; he then admitted he was carrying thedetonators. A live detonator was recovered from the spot.

An offence under Section 286 of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 4 and 5 of the Indian Explosives Act has been registered in this connection following a complaint by one of the injured passengers, Pawankumar Gangaram Adivasi (21) of Degaum in Ranchi district. The case has been transferred to the GRP at Wardha for investigations.