Stany Bela

Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SB)

Mangaluru, Oct 13: Incidents of stone pelting continue to agonize passengers especially on the Kasargod-Mangaluru route. As many as 26 incidents occurred this year within the Palakkad division alone, a majority of them in Kasargod area where eight stone-pelting cases were reported just in the past one month. What worries the authorities is that no culprits were booked except for in one case.

On Saturday, September 7, stones were pelted at the moving Gandhidham - Nagercoil Express at Chervattur, severely injuring a passenger by the door. On Wednesday, September 4, stones were pelted at two trains at Kanhangad and Uppala. On Friday, September 1, stones were pelted at the Malabar Express at Posottu near Kumble which left a passenger by the window injured.

Kabeer Mangottu, a regular commuter on the Kasaragod-Mangaluru route, said to Daijiworld, "The stone pelting incidents happening on a regular basis cannot be dismissed as 'childish' mischief. Groups of youngsters sit by the railways bridges and remote areas that are cut across by railway tracks. They consume ganja and alcohol. My assumption is that they are behind the stone pelting incidents. Police should raid these areas and deploy shadow officers to catch the anti-social elements."

Sumesh a resident of Uppala said, "I once noticed some boys pick up stones to pelt at the trains. Immediately, a local grocery shop owner and I stopped them and chased them away. Often, boys who live close the railway lines engage in the activities like stone pelting, and placing rocks and iron rods on the track. Despite stopping the boys, a majority of locals mum about the issue. This has to stop."

"The last few months, a number of incidents of stone pelting came to our notice. Placing iron rods and concrete stones are serious matters for us, in the concern of passenger safety. These type of activities will pave the way for a horrible crash. We are investigating these all incidents with great importance, to know if there was a concerted attempt of sabotage," said a top railway official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Speaking to Daijiworld, Gopinath, PRO of Palakkad Railway division said, "The stone pelting locations are spread across over 400 km and no single location is repeated more than twice, making it difficult to control the incidents. The first week of October witnessed a sudden spike of such incidents. I have instructed to intensify patrolling and prosecuting offenders in more prone regions like Kasargod - Kannur, Shoranur - Kozhikode. Most common reason could be intoxicated youth doing mischief. Out of 26 incidents, 20 have happened during the weekends and holidays."

Answering the question on measures taken to curb such incidents he said, "Patrolling has also been introduced in certain sections and multiple suspected persons were prosecuted under relevant sections of Railways Act. However, more than 100 awareness drives were conducted across the division this year alone. Village panchayats, colleges, schools, neighborhoods were educated about ill effects."

In May 2015, the police had arrested three students for trying to place a granite stone on the railway track at Uppala. But they were let off merely after questioning. After that police found a 35-kg iron rod on the rail in Manjeshwar. Last December, another granite stone was found near Kemble Railway Station minutes before the passing of Okha Express.