Maoist bid to derail Purushottam Express, travelling from Delhi to Puri, was foiled near Jhargram in West Bengal early Wednesday morning by alert patrolmen of South Eastern Railway.
According to Chief Public Relation officer South Eastern Railway, S Majumdar, night patrolmen guarding
between Gidni and Jhargram station in West Bengal noticed a group of people tampering with the rail track around 1.15 am this morning. As they rushed towards them the miscreants ran away.
The patrolmen noticed that the pandrol-clip, which holds the gauge at precisely 1676 mm, had been removed. These clips had been taken out up to a distance of about 400 metres and the line had been bent at many places.
Majumdar said that the information was immediately flashed to Gidni station and also the regional railway headquarters at Kharagpur. But Purushottam Express had already left Gidni station and had to be stopped before it reached the damaged tracks by information being given on walkie talkie.
According to Majumdar, the incident had a cascading affect as 14 long distance trains including - Gyaneshwari Express, Howrah Express, Koraput express, Ranchi Express, Utkal Express, LT Express, Sampark Kranti Express, Bangalore-Guwahati Express, Ahmedabad Express - were held up on this major Hawarh-Mumbai Trunk route.
The GRPF, RPF and local police were called in for all safety checks. Finally the clearance was given at 7.45 am this morning after fixing the tracks and safety clearance.
Bank official Dushyant Dash, travelling on Purushottam Express at the time of the incident, told Hindustan Times that they were stuck through out the night due to the incident.
Chairman Railway Board SS Khurana said that he was aware of the incident.