Sabotage attempt? 6-meter-long iron rod found on railway tracks; FIR lodged

Earlier this month, an attempt to derail a loaded goods train was detected in Rajasthan's Ajmer district.

A six-meter-long iron rod was found on the railway tracks between Bilaspur Road and Rudrapur city, the railways said in a statement on Thursday, alleging that it could be sabotage. The loco pilot slammed the emergency brakes after spotting the rod and cleared the track.

The Loco Pilot of train number 12091 reported to the Station Master of Rudrapur City that he found one 6-meter-long iron pole, said the railways. (ANI)

The incident came amid a spate of attempts to derail trains.

"On 18.09.24 at 22.18 hrs, Loco Pilot of train number 12091 reported to the Station Master of Rudrapur City that he found one 6-meter-long iron pole on the track between Bilaspur Road and Rudrapur City at km 43/10-11. Driver stopped the train, cleared the track and then started the train safely," the Indian Railways said in a statement.

An FIR was lodged at GRP Police Station Rampur under sections of the Railways Act 1989 against unnamed people.

"On seeing the electric pole, the loco pilot applied emergency brakes and stopped the train and after removing the pole the train resumed its journey," the FIR read.

Earlier this month, an attempt to derail a loaded goods train was detected in Rajasthan's Ajmer district. Miscreants had placed two cement blocks on tracks of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor. The train hit the cement blocks but nothing untoward took place.

"Some miscreants put two cement blocks on tracks on the dedicated freight corridor on Sunday. A goods train hit them," a North Western Railway official had said. The incident took place between Saradhna and Bangad stations of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor on the Phulera-Ahmedabad stretch.

Before that, a similar attempt was made to derail the Bhiwani-Prayagraj Kalindi Express in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur by placing an LPG cylinder on tracks, along with a bottle of petrol and matchboxes.

The driver of the Bhiwani-Prayagraj Kalindi Express spotted the cylinders and halted the train after hitting an LPG cylinder.

4-5 grams of explosive powder was also placed on the tracks to derail the train.

The police and other central agencies are probing the incidents.

With inputs from ANI, PTI