The attempts to derail trains, which can cause major accidents, has lately emerged as the latest challenge for Indian Railways in multiple states across India. Such attempts are coming to authorities’ notice every other day highlighting the gravity of the situation. In the latest instance, a conspiracy was hatched to derail the Dehradun-Tanakpur weekly train between Khatima and Banbasa. On 13th October, at around 3:20 am, an eight-feet-long thick cable was placed on the railway track which became lodged in the engine’s wheel, reported Hindustan Live.
The loco pilot stopped the train and noticed the cable. His foresight and vigilance narrowly prevented the unfortunate mishap. The railway control received a transmission from him about the incident. Officials and a security force team arrived from Izzatnagar at the site. The train resumed journey to Tanakpur after twenty minutes, following an investigation. Intelligence teams, along with Pilibhit Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel from Bareilly, and Pilibhit have been dispatched to look into the situation.
Similar incidents of attempts to derail trains in the recent past
Notably, a day earlier on the morning of 13th October, an empty LPG cylinder was discovered on the railway tracks near Roorkee, Uttarakhand. The loco pilot of a cargo train noticed the cylinder and promptly notified the authorities, averting a possible derailment. The incident took place at 6:35 am between Landaura and Dhandhera stations, approximately one kilometre from Dhandhera. The presence of an empty cylinder was verified by a pointsman who was sent to the spot. It has since been placed under the custody of the Station Master at Dhandhera.
The region is bounded on one side by the army cantonment’s boundary wall and on the other by a residential colony for civilians. The instance has been reported to GRP and the local police. Additionally, a First Information Report has been filed at the Civil Lines Police Station.
A few days prior, the Mysuru-Darbhanga Express collided with a goods train at Kavaraippettai railway station in the Chennai-Gudur section on 11th October at around 8:30 pm. “The train had no stoppage at the station and signals were given for it to run through. But it was unusual that despite having the signals for the mainline, the train entered the loop line and hit the goods train from behind,” informed Southern Railway Manager R.N. Singh.
On Saturday, 12th October, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) initiated a probe into the train accident. Initial investigations revealed that bolts and other components were missing from the tracks, raising suspicion of foul play. Furthermore, the agency believes that the tracks were tampered with using hammers.
The assistant loco pilot and the loco pilot were both safe. A special train was organized to convey the stranded passengers to their destinations while the injured were transferred to a hospital. He added that eleven of the 22-coach Linke-Hofmann-Busch (LHB) rake train derailed in the accident. A high-level committee would examine the events leading up to the occurrence.
Similarly, iron rods were retrieved from a railway track in Punjab’s Bathinda city early on 23rd September. A huge accident was averted when the loco pilot of a freight train, that was travelling from Bathinda to Delhi, applied brakes just in time. An inquiry was initiated by the Government Railway Police. Nine iron rods in total were found. The police then started looking into the deliberate attempt to derail the train theory regarding the matter.
“Early this morning at 3:00 am, a freight train was passing through the Bathinda-Delhi railway track. However, due to the presence of iron rods placed in the middle of the tracks, the train did not receive a signal, resulting in a delay of several hours,” the investigating officer mentioned.
On 22nd September, an empty 5-litre gas cylinder was found on the railway track in the Kanpur district of Uttar Pradesh. The loco pilot spotted the cylinder on the track and quickly engaged the brake to prevent the collision. The incident happened at about 5:50 am near the Prempur railway station. Indian Railway officials reported that the driver of the freight train stopped it after the loco pilots noticed the gas cylinder on the track. Officials from the Government Railway Police and the Railway Protection Force promptly showed up at the site as soon as they learned about the development and initiated an inquiry.
Likewise, Manish Mistry, Shubham Jayswal, a contract worker, and Subhash Podar were nabbed for planning to remove fishplates and keys from a railway track to derail a train close to Kim railway station in the Surat region of Gujarat. The attempted train derailment incident was averted on 21st September. They ripped down sections of the track to simulate a derailment attempt, shot pictures and films, and then put the missing pieces back in place to get accolades and prizes for averting an accident.
It was Subhash Poddar who informed the authorities about the fish plates that had been removed from the track. The authorities were notified and the track was fixed in time, to avoid a significant train derailment.
On 18th September, a six-meter-long iron rod was found on the railway tracks between Bilaspur Road and Rudrapur city at around 10:18 pm. The loco pilot of the Naini Doon Jan Shatabdi Express slammed the emergency brakes after spotting the rod and cleared the track. “On seeing the electric pole, the loco pilot applied emergency brakes and stopped the train and after removing the pole, the train resumed its journey,” the FIR lodged into the matter stated.
The rod was put there before the train scheduled to pass at 9:30 pm. The instance took place approximately 43 kilometres from Rampur in Uttar Pradesh, close to the Rudrapur City Railway Station. An investigation was started shortly after officers from the police outpost, Railway Protection Force and Government Railway Police reached the spot.
On the 8th of September morning, a potential disaster was averted as a conspiracy to derail the Prayagraj-Bhiwani Kalindi Express in Uttar Pradesh was uncovered. A train struck an LPG gas cylinder that was left on the tracks close to a crossing in the Muderi village of Kanpur. However, the sound of the cylinder striking the train caught the loco pilot’s attention who responded swiftly. He immediately applied emergency brakes between the areas of Barrajpur and Bilhau and prevented what could have been a catastrophic accident.
Shahrukh Khan, a history sheeter, was apprehended by the Uttar Pradesh Police’s Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS). When he was taken into custody, he had already moved some distance from the site of the incident. After interrogation, Shahrukh Khan, the primary suspect, was arrested, while six other suspects were released.
A conscious attempt was made to cause a train derailment, according to the Rail Authorities and the Railway Protection Force. The police discovered a matchbox, glass bottles, and a suspicious bag in addition to the gas cylinder.
Justification and encouragement to the miscreants
Shockingly, Kamran Malik, an Islamic ‘scholar’, on 9th September, alleged that the efforts to derail trains through sabotage might be “revengeful” actions against the way the Yogi Adityanath and Modi governments handled law and order, in a debate show on Zee News. “UP sarkar ka, central government ka, inka jo law and order ko control karne ka jo rawaiya hai wo is tarah ka hai ki log ‘revengeful’ ho sakte hai. (The way the UP government and the central government are controlling law and order is such that people could become revengeful),” he expressed as a growing number of reported plots to purposefully derail trains were uncovered with miscreants placing gas cylinders, wooden logs and rocks, among other things on the tracks.
“I am saying the right thing,” he stressed when the anchor objected to his problematic statement and brought up the demolition drive undertaken by the government against unlawful constructions and alleged custodial deaths to justify his remark.
Notably, terrorist Farhatullah Ghori who is based in Pakistan, posted a video on Telegram in August urging his supporters to plan massive train accidents in Delhi, Mumbai, and other cities. He wanted his supporters to “target the supply chain to cripple their infrastructure” and elaborated on ways to “cause disruptions” other than using guns. “Target petrol pipelines, their logistics chain, and the collaborators, disrupt the railway lines, their transport system. These will precipitate chaos,” he could be heard saying in the footage.
“The govt is targeting our properties through ED (Enforcement Directorate) and NIA (National Investigation Agency), but remain steadfast, we will usurp power sooner or later,” he claimed in the video and added, “Experiment with different tactics to ascertain what works, where they are most vulnerable.” Additionally, he urged the mujahideen to launch a “fidayeen war” or “ishtishadi jung” and attack police and Hindu authorities. He is originally from India’s Hyderabad and was the mastermind of the 2004 suicide attack on the Task Force office in Hyderabad, the 2001 attack on the Akshardham Temple that left 30 people dead and 80 injured, and the 2023 Rameshwaram Café bomb case.
