New Delhi: As more sabotage attempts to derail trains surface, a probe into one of the cases in Surat has brought to the fore unlikely culprits.
A probe into the alleged railway sabotage incident near Kim in Surat district on Saturday has shown that the entire story was concocted. The investigation indicated that three staff of the railway department had removed parts of the track to give it a look of an attempt to derail a train. They also took photographs and video, while installing the fish plates and other removed parts back in an attempt to earn accolades and rewards for preventing an accident, the investigation revealed as per a Times of India report.
Who are the accused?
The three accused have been arrested, police have shared details of the probe. Among the arrested trio, two are trackmen (gangmen) — 39-year-old Subhash Podar and Manish Mistry, and the third, 26-year-old Shubham Jayswal is a contract worker.
Podar is a BSc graduate from Bhagalpur in Bihar and has been in the the railways department for nine years. Mistry is from Patna, and Jayswal is from Chandauli’s Savaiya Mahalwal village in Uttar Pradesh. The trio is living in Kim currently.
On Saturday, the cops lodged a case in connection with track damage under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 3(5) (criminal act by several persons in furtherance of common intention), 125 (rash or negligent acts that put human life or personal safety at risk), 61(2)(a) (criminal conspiracy) and others. The trio was also booked under the Railway Act and the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.
How the plot got revealed
During the initial stages of the investigation, the trio told the cops that they had noticed three persons fleeing from the tracks between Kim and Kosamba villages around 5.15am. The accused also said that on examining the railways lines, they discovered that 71 elastic rail clip keys and two fish plates had been removed. They also told the police that they installed the removed parts back in 25 minutes. After listening to the trio’s version, the police suspected how it could have been done in such a brief time.
Surat SP Hitesh Joysar said that when we checked their mobile phones, we saw that there were a few videos and photos of the removed parts of the tracks from their recycle bin that were taken between 2am and 5am. The three men had no explanation for this, and our suspicion was strengthened, he added. The police have handed over the probe to the special operations group. The accused will be produced in court on Tuesday.
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