Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Sept 22: The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) assisted by the railways and local police have taken over the investigating after an army special train going from Jammu and Kashmir to Karnataka had to be halted after finding detonators on the railway tracks in Burhanpur in Madhya Pradesh, officials said on Sunday.
Though the detonators were said to be “harmless” and frequently used by railways to warn the drivers by producing sound during the foggy seasons, the authorities believed that placing them on the railway tracks could be a case of sabotage to derail and blow up the army special.
The incident took place near the Sagphata railway station between Nepanagar and Khandwa stations of Bhusawal division where at least 10 detonators were found on the railway track when the army’s special train was passing on Wednesday. As the train passed over the detonators, the driver became alert due to an explosion and promptly stopped the train. He then informed the station master. No one was injured in the incident.
These were railway detonators typically used to produce sound during the foggy season. When a special Army train passed over the detonators, the locomotive pilot applied emergency brakes after hearing the sound and alerted the control. Notably, these were expired detonators. The railways have procedures for disposing of expired detonators, so it was unclear how these detonators ended up on the track and what the motive might have been.
These detonators are called crackers and when they explode, they make a loud sound which is a signal for an obstruction or fog or mist ahead, officials said. “These detonators are regularly used by the railways and such detonators were put there (on tracks). There was no need to put them there, that is why RPF is thoroughly investigating it,” officials added.
“The investigations are being carried out from all angles,” he said. “After the warning signal or 10 harmless detonators on track went off, our deputy station superintendent (of Sagphata) heard the sound. He got the military special halted and got things checked. The train was allowed to proceed in just two minutes,” the senior railway official said. The statements of the “patrolling gang of 10 to 12 people” are being recorded and investigations are underway, the official added.
In yet another case of sabotage, an empty gas cylinder was found on the tracks near the Prempur railway station on the Delhi-Howrah rail line in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur. The goods train loco pilot had to apply emergency brakes to stop the train. Police said the incident occurred at 8:10 am when the train was going to Prayagraj from Kanpur. “It was found that the cylinder was of five-kilogram capacity and empty. It was removed from the track. The matter is being investigated,” the police said.
It was the third train derailment attempt near Kanpur this month. The Railway Protection Force (RPF) and Government Railway Police (GRP) promptly arrived at the scene, and an investigation was underway. A freight train was running on the loop line from Kanpur towards Prayagraj when the incident took place. The locomotive pilot spotted the gas cylinder when he was asked to stop to let the other express train pass the section and immediately informed the control room.
“A goods train going from Kanpur towards Prayagraj was stopped using the emergency brakes after the driver spotted a gas cylinder lying on the tracks, at Prempur Station at 5:50 am today (September 22). Railway IOW (Inspector of work), security and other teams examined the cylinder and removed it from the tracks. Upon inspection, it was found that the 5-litre cylinder was empty. Directions have been given to investigate the matter,” CPRO North Central Railway said in a statement.
This was the second such incident in Uttar Pradesh this month. On September 9, an attempt was made to derail the Kalindi Express travelling from Prayagraj to Bhiwani in Haryana by placing an LPG cylinder on the tracks. The train had hit the cylinder before coming to a screeching halt.
Another attempt at train derailment was thwarted on Saturday after the railway officials found and removed fish plates and keys from a railway track near Kim Railway Station in Surat, Gujarat.