LUCKNOW, India (Reuters) - Police recovered and defused a bomb on a passenger train travelling to India's capital early Thursday, officials said, stirring fears about possible attacks by militant groups.
Police said the bomb, fitted with wires and hidden in the toilet of a packed coach, was probably being smuggled into New Delhi, a past target of bombings, where security is being tightened for the Commonwealth Games in October.
Police have previously warned militants could target the Games.
"The bomb, weighing 1.5 kg (3.3 lb), was reasonably sophisticated," said Karmveer Singh, police chief of Uttar Pradesh where the train originated. "Its explosion (while defusing) was also powerful."
Police found the bomb after a tip-off.
India remains jittery about the threat of militant attacks. A blast in the western city of Pune killed 17 people in February, the first major militant strike since the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
(Reporting by Alka Pande; Editing by Bappa Majumdar and Alex Richardson)
