Rail scare continues near Mumbai: Motorman spots rod on Panvel-JNPT line

Two days after a 1.5m-long iron rod was found across the railway tracks that put the lives of hundreds in the Pune-Santragachi Express in a jeopardy, a similar incident took place on the Panvel-JNPT railway line on Wednesday morning, where an eight-foot long iron pole was placed across the railway tracks.

Two days after a 1.5m-long iron rod was found across the railway tracks that put the lives of hundreds in the Pune-Santragachi Express in a jeopardy, a similar incident took place on the Panvel-JNPT railway line on Wednesday morning, where an eight-foot long iron pole was placed across the railway tracks.

A metal slab near the track at JNPT, Panvel. (HT)

Like the Kalamboli incident, in this case too, the motorman spotted the pole on the tracks and informed the authorities about it.

Prakash Nilewar, assistant commissioner of police (Panvel division), said, “Around 3am, the motorman of a goods train spotted the pole and halted the train. The railway official, along with the engineers, rushed to the spot and removed it.”

They also checked in the peripheral areas to find out if there was anything else on the tracks and then allowed the train to move. Later, they registered an FIR with the Panvel city police.

“We have registered a case under Section 150 (1) (a) of the Railway Act and Section 336 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against unidentified people. However, we are still clueless about the culprits,” said a police officer from Panvel city police station.

The police have not been able to trace the people who kept the rod in Kalamboli on Monday evening.

According to a railway official, a major disaster was averted as the train was running at a low speed. “The intensity of the accident would have been huge if the train was running at a high speed,” said the official.

Nilewar said, “We are investigating the matter from various angles. One theory is that some local people carried the piece of rail to sell. But they might have left it on the tracks, seeing a train approaching them.”

However, he did not rule out the possibility of a conspiracy. “A section of the union is protesting against the railways over salary and there is a possibility that they could have done this. This was a work of more than one person as one person cannot lift such a big piece of rail,” he said.

“Apart from local police agencies like the GRP, the RPF, IB and ATS are also investigating the matter. All these agencies visited the site after the incident,” Nilewar said.

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