Angry relatives question India rail security

By Nita Bhalla

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Mohammed Raziuddin said it was chaos at Old Delhi's railway station when he saw his brother off on a train for Pakistan on Sunday night.

"There were so many people here," the 26-year-old said, holding a photograph of his Pakistani brother. "But there was no checking and no security ... there was no discipline."

Raziuddin was searching for news along with scores of other worried relatives who thronged the railway station on Monday, hours after homemade bombs exploded on a supposedly high-security train, sparking a fire that killed 66 people.

Amid the concern, anger is beginning to emerge at the lack of security that allowed four large suitcases packed with explosives and fuel to be placed on the train.

"The railways and the police are responsible for this because the security at the Delhi station is totally lax," said Haji Nasruddin, searching for his sister-in-law in the morgue at Panipat, a town about 80 km (50 miles) outside New Delhi near the site of the blaze.

"The officials and cops there are only interested in bribes, they are only interested in the security of their pockets," said the 58-year-old white-bearded shopkeeper, wearing a white Muslim prayer cap.

"They don't check who is going on or what they are carrying."

On Monday, there was little sign of extra security at the massive station where the train had started its journey. A few policemen stationed at one of the many entrances asked passengers to walk through a door scanner and some bags were haphazardly searched.