Iron Piece Found On Tracks Near Uran, Railway Police Sniff Sabotage

Mumbai: Yet another act of suspected sabotage has thrown the Central Railway officials into a tizzy. A six-foot-long discarded, overhead equipment was found lying on the rail tracks between Jasai and Dapoli stations near Uran in the wee hours of Wednesday. This is the third such incident in a month after a major accident was averted at Diva station near Thane in January this year.      

The incident took place around 3am on Wednesday, when an alert driver of a JNPT-bound goods train, coming from Ratlam in MP, spotted it and applied the brakes on time, bringing the train to a screeching halt over 50m from the abandoned rail piece, a Railway official said.

Subsequently, an FIR against unidentified persons was lodged with the Panvel City Police, under relevant sections of the IPC and Railway Act, said the official.

He said the Railways operating staff had been put on high alert following the Diva accident last month.

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Sachin Balode, Senior Divisional Security Commissioner (RPF) of Mumbai Division of the Central Railway, said an investigation into Wednesday's incident was underway. "We are yet to ascertain whether it is an act of track sabotage," he added.

On January 24, a 7-meter-long rail piece, weighing around 400kg, was found on the tracks near Diva station adjoining Mumbai. The alert train driver of Madgaon-Dadar Janshatabdi Express had then averted a mishap by applying the emergency brakes.

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Earlier this week, on February 6, a huge piece of rod was found on the tracks between Kalamboli and Taloja stations at Navi Mumbai in Raigad district.