9.12.2001
Updated 6:30 p.m.
Man taken into custody at Providence rail station identified
• Chief Sullivan said there is no reason to believe that the man, charged with possession of a knife, has any connection to yesterday's terrorist attacks.

By DAVID McPHERSON
projo.com staff writer
With Journal staff reports

PROVIDENCE — As tensions ran high across the nation in the wake of yesterday's terrorist attacks, police in Providence this afternoon stopped a Washington-bound train coming from Boston after receiving a report of four suspicious individuals on board.

Amtrak officials had contacted the Providence police department asking them to detain the train and question the four men.

Shortly before 4 p.m. Providence Police Chief Richard Sullivan said the men were questioned and it was determined they were not wanted for any reason. However, one was arrested on a charge of possessing a knife.

He was identified later this afternoon as Sher J.B. Singh, 28, of Leesburg, Va., and charged with possession of a knife over 3 inches, according to Maj. Martin F. Hames. A native of India, Singh has been a U.S. citizen for two years.

After being questioned this afternooon by Providence police and federal agents, he was being held overnight and is expected to be arraigned in District Court, Providence, tomorrow.l

Of the three other men, Sullivan said, "We were satisfied they were not suspicious."

Police found no reason to hold the other three men, and they — and the other passengers on the train — have been allowed to continue on their trip to Washington, D.C.

Sullivan did acknowledge that the response by Providence and state police was greater than usual, in the aftermath of yesterday's terrorist strikes. "More officers came than we might normally have," Sullivan said.

Sullivan said there is no reason to believe that Singh, or the three other men questioned, have any connection to the attacks in New York City and at the Pentagon. "It was just a matter of following up leads," he said.

Sullivan did say that police had been concerned that at least one of the four may have been a suspect who eluded authorities in Boston earlier today.

The stopping of the train at about 2 p.m. drew large crowds of spectators and press, as well as many city and state law enforcement officials.

Passengers from the train had been held outdoors on the platform — visible to the crowd — while the train itself and their baggage was searched.

The man later identified as Singh, wearing a green turban and with a long black beard, was driven away in a police cruiser as the crowds that had been gathered at the station cheered.

Other trains are now moving in and out of the station.

State and Providence police had surrounded the rail station, when it was evacuated and searched. The state bomb squad entered the station carrying equipment and with dogs.

Many squad cars, police on horseback, and Providence Mayor Vincent A. Cianci Jr. were also on the scene.

The station itself was evacuated, and people were blocked from entering the station. Many observers, however, were able to see what's going on from a vantage point above the area.