NEW DELHI: Three attempts to derail trains and two instances of pelting of stones in the past one week point to criminal intent of miscreants, railway ministry officials said highlighting how this “wave” of incidents has become a major cause of concern. They added that the collision of a train on Sunday evening with a cooking cylinder kept on the tracks in Kanpur did not result in any major mishap as the loco pilot applied emergency brakes in time. Officials said the police discovered petrol and matches at the scene, indicating criminal intention.
Recently, Pakistan-based terrorist Farhatullah Ghori had released a video on Telegram exhorting his followers to orchestrate large-scale train derailments and urged them to “target the supply chain to cripple their infrastructure”. Since June last year, there have been at least 17 instances when either locomotive pilots or railway staff have detected pieces of wood between crossing rail, stones on rail line, signal tampering, and gas cylinders placed on tracks that are potential hazards. There have also been other instances of unauthorised use of tracks by social media influencers.
While the Railway Protection Force (RPF) have filed cases, carried out investigation and have also apprehended some of the miscreants, sources said there is increased focus on checking tracks passing through identified sensitive areas. “It’s a tough task, but every effort is being made to avoid any mishap,” said a railway official. In some c.