OPINION | Who is conspiring to derail Indian Railways?
A series of deliberate sabotage attempts to derail Indian Railways has raised concerns of a larger conspiracy. Recent incidents include a gas cylinder placed on the tracks near Kanpur and cement blocks in Rajasthan.
Recently, there has been a spate in deliberate multiple sabotage attempts to derail Indian Railways trains, with two attempts made on Sunday alone. In Shivrajpur, 50 km from Kanpur, a deliberate attempt was made to derail the Kalindi Express by placing a gas cylinder on the route. A major accident was averted after the loco pilot heard the sound of train hitting the cylinder, and applied emergency brakes. Authorities recovered a gas cylinder, glass bottles, a matchbox, and a packet containing explosives near the rail track. In Ajmer, Rajasthan, on Sunday, two cement blocks weighing 70 kg each were found placed on rail tracks to derail a goods train on the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor.
The two foiled attempts took place less than a month after 20 coaches of Ahmedabad-bound Sabarmati Express were derailed on August 17 near Govindpuri in Kanpur after the engine hit an object placed on the track. On August 20, alloy wheels were found placed on rail tracks near Aligarh, while on August 27, big wooden boulders were found placed on rail tracks near Farrukhabad. On August 23, big cement girder was placed on rail track near Pali, Rajasthan in a bid to derail Vande Bharat Express.
In the last one month, more than six derailments have taken place in West Bengal, Assam and Jharkhand. All such attempts to derail trains should not be seen in isolation, as if some local miscreants did this. If you look at all these incidents, you can find a chain behind some diabolical conspiracy. These are not acts by miscreants or simply a coincidence, but appear to be part of a chain of ‘experiments’ being carried out as part of a bigger conspiracy. The modus operandi in all these incidents is the same. There are forces which are trying to defame Indian Railways by causing such derailments.
In the last ten years, Indian Railways had done a tremendously good job and the image of the government has improved. The common people have started noticing the huge changes that have come in Indian Railways. There seems to be a clear well-orchestrated conspiracy to defame the railways. It is for the security agencies to take up the challenge to find out who are behind this conspiracy. It is a big challenge. Till then, all of us need to be on our toes and be alert.