New Delhi: The Bareilly-Varanasi Express struck a two-foot-long piece of wood weighing over six kilograms while traveling through Uttar Pradesh on Thursday night. This collision is being investigated as a potential act of sabotage, following a series of alarming occurrences on Indian railways.
This incident comes just a month after an empty gas cylinder was found on the tracks near Prempur railway station in Kanpur, and in another incident, ten detonators were found on a railway track in Madhya Pradesh, aimed at derailing a train carrying army personnel. The recent wood obstruction occurred on the same route connecting Delhi and Lucknow, and the train’s driver of Train No. 14236 Bareilly-Varanasi Express managed to halt the locomotive safely despite the debris getting wedged under the wheels, officials said.
The collision caused damage to a signaling device, disrupting operations on the Lucknow-Hardoi lines and prompting other loco pilots to exercise heightened caution. Railway officials have since filed a First Information Report (FIR) at the Malihabad police station, and nearby railway stations have been alerted to monitor for further threats.
An inspection team was dispatched to investigate the scene, where they, alongside the loco pilot, struggled to remove the heavy wood that had caused significant disruption for about two hours. The Railway Protection Force (RPF) was also deployed to secure the area.
The central government has taken these incidents seriously, assigning the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to probe recent sabotage attempts on railway tracks. Notably, the NIA is looking into four cases, rail authorities said oon friday, news agency PTI reported, including the September incident involving detonators near Sagphata railway station that targeted a military train traveling from Jammu and Kashmir to Karnataka. Fortunately, that situation was averted when the alert loco pilot stopped the train after hearing an explosion.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw emphasized that railway authorities are on high alert against potential sabotage threats. Ongoing discussions are taking place with police and NIA officials across various states to enhance security measures.
