A major train derailment attempt was narrowly avoided on Monday after iron rods were found on a railway track in Punjab’s Bathinda. The Government Railway Police (GRP) has registered a case and initiated a probe.

The rods were spotted earlier this morning, prompting the loco pilot of the freight train to apply the brakes just in time.

“The police stated that an investigation is underway to determine whether this was a conspiracy by some miscreant. Early this morning at 3 am, a freight train was passing through the Bathinda-Delhi railway track. However, due to the presence of iron rods placed in the middle of the tracks, the train did not receive a signal, resulting in a delay of several hours,” said Shavinder Kumar, Investigating Officer, Government Railway Police, Bathinda.

“So far, 9 iron rods have been recovered, and a case has been registered against an unknown person,” he added

This is the fifth incident in September where unidentified individuals have attempted to derail trains.

In a similar case on September 22, a potential disaster was averted when the loco pilot of a goods train applied the brakes in time after spotting an LPG cylinder placed on the tracks near Perambur Railway Station in Kanpur district, Uttar Pradesh.

On September 10, the Railways stated that there have been 18 attempted derailments across the country since August.

Between June 2023 and now, there have been 24 such incidents where objects like LPG cylinders, bicycles, iron rods, and cement blocks were found on railway tracks.

According to Indian Railways, 15 of the 18 reported attempts occurred in August, while four took place in September, including the most recent derailment attempt in Kanpur.

(With inputs by Kunal Bansal)