A man has been arrested on Saturday for allegedly attempting to derail a train by placing iron rods on the railway tracks in the Jakhoura police station area in Uttar Pradesh's Lalitpur district. The incident took place on Thursday night (October 3) near Delwara railway station, when sparks were seen coming from the engine of the Patal Express (train number 12624) due to an iron rod lodged in it. Alerted by the gateman, the loco pilot managed to stop the train in time, preventing a potential major accident. Authorities have launched an investigation into the incident.
Lalitpur Superintendent of Police (SP) Md Mustaque on Saturday said the station master of Delwara railway station had lodged a complaint with the Jakhoura police station on Friday stating that an unknown person had tried to derail a train by placing iron rods on the railway track on Thursday night. The SP said taking cognisance of this complaint, an investigation was started and it was found that there is a place near the incident spot where the railway staff keep several iron rods and other items. A person named Satyam Yadav (32) used to steal iron rods from there and sell them at other places, he said.
Stolen iron rods and other items recovered
Mustaque said the Jakhora police raided and arrested Yadav from his house on Saturday. Stolen iron rods and other items were recovered from his house, he added. He said during interrogation, Yadav told the police that he was walking on the railway track on Thursday night after stealing iron rods. Suddenly the Patal Express train came and in a hurry he threw the iron rods on the railway track and ran away.
The incident assumes significance as it is a fresh one amid several cases of gas cylinders, pillars, boulders, stones and other objects being found on railway tracks in Uttar Pradesh. A stone was found on the railway track between the Varanasi-Ballia-Chhapra rail section last month. On seeing the stone placed on the track, the loco pilot applied emergency brakes.
Similar incident in UP last month
In another incident last month itself, a 16-year-old boy was apprehended for allegedly putting a fencing pillar on the Banda-Mahoba rail track, causing disruptions, the police said. The driver of the passenger train had to apply emergency brakes to stop the train after he noticed a concrete pillar on the tracks, the police added.
On September 22, two people were arrested in connection with the alleged derailment bid of the Naini Jan Shatabdi Express by placing a six-metre-long iron pole on track between the Bilaspur Road and Rudrapur City railway stations on September 18 in Rampur, the police said. On September 8, an attempt was made to derail the Kalindi Express, heading towards Bhiwani from Prayagraj, by placing an LPG cylinder on the tracks. The train hit the cylinder before coming to a screeching halt.
(With PTI inputs)
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