Alert locopilot spots 20-ft-long pipe on tracks in UP, foils derailment bid

SHAMLI: A 20ft-long iron borewell pipe having a diameter of around 8 inches was detected on Delhi-Saharanpur railway track by an alert loco pilot in the nick of time, averting a major train tragedy on Saturday night. Several medium- to large-sized stones were also found on the tracks. Notably, this was the fourth such attempt of sabotaging of train operations in Uttar Pradesh in May.

Last week, there was an attempt to derail the New Delhi-Bhubaneswar Tejas Rajdhani express when an unknown person kept ballast on the tracks between Bheerpur and Meja Road railway stations.

Two attempts to derail the Delhi-Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express (20504) and Kathgodam Express (15044) were recorded on May 19, near Dalelnagar and Umar Tali stations, when an unknown person had kept a wooden log on the rail track.

Sharing details of the Shamli incident, officials said the loco pilot applied the emergency brakes and brought the 64021 Delhi-Shamli train to a halt. They added that the pipe was discovered around 10.18 pm between Kandhla and Shamli stations.

An FIR was registered at Shamli police station against unknown persons, said Shamli SP Ram Sevak Gautam."Initial investigation revealed that the borewell pipe was uprooted from a tubewell belonging to a farmer of nearby Simbhalkha village," Gautam said, adding that"given the seriousness of the issue, several special police teams have been formed to identify and apprehend those responsible."

(With inputs from Arvind Chauhan in Lucknow)