54 clips stolen from freight corridor railway tracks in Gurugram’s Sohna

According to officials, the theft was discovered at 7am on Saturday while private guards patrolled the track

Fifty-four elastic rail clips and liners were removed and stolen from the up and down railway tracks of the dedicated freights’ Western Corridor at Silani village in Sohna, officials of the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL) said on Sunday, adding that the timely discovery of the theft averted a major train accident and that this was the second such theft in the area in the last ten days.

The timely discovery of the theft averted a major train accident and this was the second such theft in the area in the last ten days, said officials. (Representational image)

According to officials, the theft was discovered at 7am on Saturday while private guards patrolled the track. “Only a police investigation will reveal whether the removal of these clips was done for metal theft or with malicious intent,” said Mihir Kumar Jha, assistant project manager of DFCCIL.

Based on Jha’s complaint, the Sadar Sohna police station registered a first information report against unidentified suspects under Section 379 (theft) of the Indian Penal Code on Saturday night.

Jha said that 39 clips were taken from the up track, and 15 more were removed from the down track. According to Jha’s complaint, on August 25, 56 clips and liners were discovered missing from the same location, after which senior Gurugram police officers were alerted.

“Removing these clips could prove fatal and result in an accident. The clips bind the tracks strongly with the sleeper using liners placed below,” Jha said, adding, “This is a major safety concern for freight train operations. Such incidents were reported only in a 25km stretch of the 1,506-km-long corridor where the track passes through the Mewat region and Sohna.”

According to Jha, there is a chance that a few goods trains passed through the section of the track where the clips were removed.

Inspector Santosh Kumar, station house officer of Sadar Sohna police station, said that they are attempting to identify the suspects involved in the theft.

“We are targeting those who have previously been involved in such thefts or are drug addicts for questioning. Though it appears to be a petty theft, it can potentially cause a major accident at any time. There are at least three villages in the area known for such activities. We are trying to make the village residents understand the implications,” he said.

According to DFCCIL officials, goods train operations on tracks built by the Indian Railways for double-decker racks began six months ago. The corridor starts in Dadri in Uttar Pradesh. It passes through Noida, Faridabad, Palwal, Sohna in Gurugram, Mewat, Tauru, Dharuhera, Rewari, Rajasthan, and Gujarat before ending at JNPT (Jawaharlal Nehru Port) in Mumbai.

The incident comes a day after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) charged three employees of the Indian Railways with culpable homicide not amounting to murder (IPC Section 304 [2]) and Section 153 (endangering safety of persons travelling by railways by wilful act or omission) of the Railways Act, among others, for their role in the Balasore train tragedy in Odisha in June 2, 2023, in which 296 people were killed and dozens were injured.