KUALA LUMPUR, July 15 — A crudely made bomb was found near the Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) railway track in Jalan Kolam Air 9 in Sentul during peak hours on Wednesday, in what is believed to be an apparent case of “sabotage”.

Police were alerted to the explosive — a mineral water bottle wrapped in a plastic and newspaper — along the tracks by KTMB’s auxiliary personnel at 4.35pm.

A police source said the bottle contained gunpowder, ball bearings and glass shrapnel wrapped in a cylinder-shaped cardboard paper and plastic.

He said the top part of the bottle was covered with a cone-shaped polyvinyl chloride pipe and contained gunpowder similar to that used for fireworks.

“It was an explosive. Sentul police immediately contacted Special Branch when they saw the contents in the bottle,” the source added.

Bukit Aman Special Branch director Datuk Seri Fuzi Harun, in confirming the incident, said the case was being investigated as “sabotage”. He ruled out Islamic State (IS) links in the incident.

The explosive was found where two KTMB lines run — the Batu Caves-Tampin Komuter line and the Tanjung Malim-Port Klang line.

At least two trains had passed the area within 10 minutes before the bomb was found. It remained unclear how long the explosive had been at the site.

The trains were from Sentul and Segambut stations heading to Putra station.

A KTMB spokesman said they were working closely with police regarding the incident.

“Special Branch has not informed us the outcome of its investigations. We are happy to assist in anyway possible,” he said.

He added police had already warned the rail company before the Hari Raya celebrations to step up security as IS militants had threatened to attack public transport services.

“None of our auxiliary police personnel were allowed to go on Raya leave and it is thanks to their watchful eyes that they found the explosive,” he said.

The threat comes following a grenade explosion at a bar in Puchong on June 28. Police had initially ruled out terror links but later confirmed IS militants were behind the attack.