Major tragedy averted in Lucknow as railway tracks found sabotaged
Major tragedy was averted in Lucknow when officials noticed 150 clips missing from railway tracks in the Mahanagar area yesterday morning and alerted the authorities. Repair work was immediately started and trains on the route delayed or diverted. This was the second registered attempt in 2017 to sabotage rail operations in UP. In January, a train had derailed in Unnao due to missing clips.
Residents noticed suspicious activity but missed the actual dangers
A resident of Mahanagar Sector A, Saba Siddiqui, said she noticed some men "hammering" on the tracks at around 1:15am. Alarmed, she woke up a few neighbors and went to enquire. "When we asked them, they said they were railway employees and maintenance work was on," she said. However, the residents decided not to inform cops when the men left along with their tools.
Patrol teams noticed the breach hours later
The missing clips were first noticed by a railway patrolling team at around 4am; clips prevent the tracks from being displaced. They alerted railway control, which immediately commenced repair work. Train movement between Daliganj-Gomtinagar was suspended for three hours. More than a dozen trains were delayed. About 60 trains pass through the Mahanagar railway crossing daily, said Asim Arun, UP ATS IG.
Persons involved could be jailed for life
A case has now been filed against unknown persons under Section 150 of the Railways Act. According to Vikas Pandey, Mahanagar police station SHO, "It amounts to malicious attempt to wreck a train and a person can be imprisoned for life on conviction under the section."
In January, a goods train had derailed
On January 12, a goods train heading from Kanpur to Lucknow derailed after crossing Shuklaganj railway station. Ten coaches skidded off the tracks, crashing into each other and breaking apart. The coaches, tracks as well as the overhead equipment suffered massive damage. The incident happened allegedly due to track fracture. There was no casualty.
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