Jaipur: After an attempt was made by some miscreants to derail a train near Ajmer in Rajasthan, close on the heels of a similar sabotage attempt on the Kalindi Express in Kanpur, the Ajmer Range IG on Tuesday formed an SIT to investigate the conspiracy behind the incident.
The incident took place on Sunday when a goods train was travelling from Ajmer’s Phulera to Ahmedabad in Gujarat on Sunday night.
Sources said two cement blocks weighing one quintal each were found placed 1 km apart on the railway tracks between Saradhana and Bangadh in Ajmer district, one of which the goods train hit without sustaining any major damages.
A major derailment was averted after two officials of the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL) informed the police.
The incident was reported just a day after a similar attempt was made to derail the Bhiwani-Prayagraj Kalindi Express in Kanpur where an LPG cylinder was placed on the tracks along with a bottle of petrol and matchboxes.
Railway and security officials on Tuesday inspected the spot in Ajmer where the miscreants placed cement blocks on the tracks.
Speaking to IANS, Mangliyawas police station in-charge Surendra Singh said, “This was certainly a planned deed by some anti-social elements who wanted to derail the train. Also, it couldn’t have been done by a single person so we exploring the possibility of the involvement of multiple persons. Right now, we are trying to figure out who all can be responsible for this act. We are facing certain challenges as the location is quite far off and there is no CCTV footage or any concrete clue,” he added.
Assistant Commissioner of the Railway Protection Force (RPF), Rameshwar Lal Meena, said, “The two blocks were placed on the culvert, which were picked up by the miscreants and placed on the tracks.”
Surendra Singh added, “The incident was reported on the night of September 8. There was a triangle-type block on the track, which was placed by the miscreants. After the goods train hit one of the blocks, the driver informed the nearest station master about it. The GRP has inspected the spot. A similar block was recovered on the other line as well.”
The complaint was filed by executive engineer Ravi Prakash Bundela (32) on Monday.
Officials said that a case has been registered under Sections 150 and 152 of the Railways Act, 1989, for demolishing public property.
Investigation officer Ramswaroop is probing the matter, the officials added.
This was the third time that a conspiracy was hatched to derail a train in Rajasthan in recent times.
On August 28, bike scrap was thrown on the tracks in Chhabra, Baran, where a chassis got stuck into a train. The matter came to light after the loco pilot informed the police.
On August 23, the Ahmedabad-Jodhpur Vande Bharat Express collided with cement blocks kept on the tracks in Pali.
(IANS)
