Rajasthan train sabotage: Security officials visit spot, say it's a planned act

Jaipur, Sep 10 (IANS) Railway and security officials, on Tuesday, inspected the spot near Ajmer in Rajasthan where some miscreants tried to sabotage the railway tracks by placing cement blocks to derail a loaded goods train.

Speaking to IANS, Mangliyawas police station in-charge Surendra Singh said, "This certainly is a planned deed of anti-social elements who wanted the train to derail. Also, this work cannot be done by a single person and there may be more than one person involved. Right now, we are trying to figure out who can be responsible for this act. However, we are facing certain challenges as the location is quite far off and there is no camera or any other clue," he added.

Further, Railway Protection Force (RPF) Assistant Commissioner Rameshwar Lal Meena directed workers to remove the blocks placed at the location and said, "These blocks were placed on the culvert nearby, which were picked up by miscreants and were placed on the track."

Surendra Singh said, "The incident was reported on the night of September 8. There was a triangle-type block on the track, which was placed by miscreants. When the train hit the block, the driver informed the station master about it. Now, the GRP has inspected the spot. A similar block has been recovered on the other line as well. On the information of the railway administration, a case has been registered under the sections of the Railway Act," he added.

The complaint report was filed by executive engineer Ravi Prakash Bundela (32) on Monday.

According to the report, information was received on September 8 at 10.36 p.m. that a cement block was kept on the track. When we reached the spot, we found that it had broken and fallen. Another block was broken and kept on the side ahead, police officials told IANS.

The officials said that a case has been registered under Sections 150 and 152 of the Railways Act, 1989 for demolishing the public property. Investigation officer Ramswaroop is probing the matter, said the officials

Meanwhile, this is the third time in Rajasthan that a conspiracy has been hatched to derail a train. This time, miscreants placed 70 kg cement blocks at two places between Lamana and Kharwa railway stations in Ajmer.

It was fortunate that the train smashed these blocks and moved ahead and no accident occurred. This goods train was going from Phulera to Ahmedabad. In this case, an FIR was lodged at the Mangaliyawas police station on Monday night, said officials.

Earlier on August 28, bike scrap was thrown on the goods train track in Chhabra, Baran. The engine collided with the bike scrap. At the same time, on August 23, the Ahmedabad-Jodhpur Vande Bharat collided with the cement blocks kept on the track in Pali.

It needs to be mentioned here that a similar attempt was made to damage the Kalindi Express in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur. The loco pilot was able to hit the emergency brakes to avert a major accident. Further inspection of the incident spot led to shocking discoveries of matchsticks, a petrol bottle and a bag full of gunpowder, hinting at a major conspiracy.

The Kanpur Police have detained six individuals, including two history sheeters, in connection with the case. Authorities have also formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to further investigate the matter. Officials said that the team will examine potential links to the recent Sabarmati Express derailment in Kanpur.