Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi (RD)

Udupi, Oct 30: Miscreants' attempt to rob passengers by derailing the passenger train on Konkan Railway (KR) route has been foiled.  Miscreants laid iron rods on railway tracks at Chantar near Brahmavar here, in an attempt to derail the KR passenger train.  The rods were attached to the tracks.  However, the rod attached to one track was broken when a goods train passed on the same on Sunday October 28 night.  Hence the passenger train escaped mishap.

KR passenger services of Mangala Express, Netravati Express and other good trains did not experience any damage, when they passed through in the night.  Later KR Protection Force inspector Purushottam Poojary and Bramavar policemen arrived at the spot, in order to inspect the location. 

The location chosen to derail the passenger trains running on KR route lies close to the railway track that runs parallel to state highway.  This sends out a clear message that an organized gang is behind it.  However, one cannot deny the role of locals in this too.

It is suspected that the miscreants have spent a lot of days in studying the situation. They have also prepared the iron rods and hook locally which means that they were staying in the area for quite some time now.

The railway track safety man, Sudhakar Mallya noticed the broken pieces of iron rod lying beside the track when he was on routine check, on Monday October 29 morning.  After Mallya reported this to Udupi railway division senior section officer, M V Gopalakrishnan, he arrived at the spot along with the assistants and inspected the spot.