Man arrested for allegedly trying to derail Patal Express train in Uttar Pradesh's Lalitpur

Banda, Uttar Pradesh: Police on Saturday arrested a man for allegedly trying to derail a train by placing iron rods on the railway track in Jakhoura police station area of Lalitpur district in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday night, a police official said.

On Thursday (October 3) night in Delwara railway station area, sparks started coming out of the engine of train number 12624 (Patal Express) as an iron rod was stuck in it. On the information given by the gateman, the loco pilot stopped the train, thus averting a major train accident.

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.

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.

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.