The Indian Railways has taken a “serious” note of increasing incidents of objects, usually explosive, being placed on railway tracks to cause accidents, and has sought help from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in identifying those involved.
“The railway administration has taken the matter very seriously. We are in constant touch with the state governments and their director generals of police, home secretaries. NIA has also been involved,” Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, adding that the Railway Protection Force is also looking into the matter.
“We will take strict action against anyone and everyone behind this. The administration is working hard to ensure that no such incidents are repeated and that we can track down the offenders,” the minister was quoted as saying in the media reports.
According to reports, a number such incidents have come to light in the recent past. Locomotive pilots have complained of foreign objects on tracks.
A few days ago, the driver of a goods train from Kanpur to Prayagraj spotted a gas cylinder on the track. He managed to stop the train.
On September 15 and 21, in two different incidents, a cylinder and a Molotov cocktail were found and in second occurrence people damaged a track in Surat region.
An alert keyman, however, able to avert a potential mishap, whereas the case of sabotage was also found out and the obstacle was removed from the track.