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The Gujarat police officials on Saturday informed that the Mumbai-Delhi Rajdhani Express train hit a cement pillar, which some miscreants had allegedly placed on the railway track near Valsad in south Gujarat. The police also informed that no passenger was injured.
The police suspect that the incident, which took place around 7.10 pm on Friday, was an attempt to derail the Delhi-bound train. They have registered a case in this connection.
"The Mumbai-Hazrat Nizamuddin August Kranti Rajdhani Express train hit the cement pillar placed on the railway track close to Atul station near Valsad. After being hit by the train, the pillar got pushed off the track. The incident did not affect the train as it moved on and no passenger was hurt. The loco pilot immediately informed the Atul railway station personnel about it," an official of Valsad rural police station said.
On being alerted, senior police and railway officials rushed to the spot. "Some miscreants had placed the cement pillar on the track. The train hit the pillar, after which the train manager immediately informed the local station master," Rajkumar Pandian, Range, IG of Surat, told reporters.
It appeared to be a case of attempt to derail the train, he said, adding that the police are conducting an investigation into the matter. An FIR was lodged against unidentified miscreants at Valsad rural police station, and efforts are on to nab the culprit using technical surveillance and human intelligence, the Valsad rural police official said.
Meanwhile, rescue operation of the derailed Bikaner-Guwahati Express train, which met with the accident near Maynaguri in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district on Thursday evening, has been completed, a Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) statement said.
The train disaster caused the death of five persons so far and more than 45 people were injured. The NFR statement said there were about 1053 passengers onboard at the time of derailment and a special train to ferry the stranded passengers has left for the accident site from New Jalpaiguri at 7.05 pm, the statement said.
Assam special DGP (Law and Order) G P Singh said all stranded passengers were provided with drinking water and snacks from the pantry car of the train. “Rescue operation has already been completed," the NFR statement said though it did not mention details on casualties and injuries in the mishap.
Senior railway officials along with accident relief train from New Jalpaiguri and New Alipurduar rushed to the site on receipt of information and started the relief and rescue operation. The NFR general manager has left by a train from Guwahati for the accident site, the statement added.
Nine trains have been diverted through alternative routes following the accident, which include Guwahati-Howrah Saraighat Express, Kamakhya-Anand Vihar Express, New Delhi-Agartala Tejas Rajdhani Express and Trivandrum-Silchar Express. The Railways have announced ex-gratia of ₹five lakh to the next of kin of each of those killed in the accident, ₹one lakh to the seriously injured and ₹25,000 for passengers with simple injury, the statement said. The NFR has already activated several helpline numbers for information about the incident.
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