A potentially catastrophic incident was averted on Friday when alert railway staff in Maharashtra’s Pimpri Chinchwad discovered several large stones deliberately placed on the tracks. A vigilant guard of a suburban train running on parallel tracks noticed the stones and informed the Chinchwad station master.
“Sandeep Bhalerao, the guard of the Lonavala-Pune suburban train, noticed the stones on the adjacent UP tracks and informed the station master at Chinchwad,” said a senior railway official.
The station master informed the loco pilot of train number 16352 (Nagarkoil – Mumbai CSMT Express), which was immediately stopped near Chinchwad, the official added.
Authorities are now investigating the incident to determine the motive behind the heinous act.
Throwing more light on the incident, CPRO Central Railway Shivaji Manaspore said that a team already patrolling the area saw large stones at five different places on the tracks at a distance of 10-20 meters. He said that the intention behind the act appears to be malicious, possibly committed by some anti-social elements. He added that the patrolling team acted swiftly and removed the stones to avoid any possible disaster.
Manaspure said a thorough search of the nearby areas is being conducted to collect any possible clues or evidence and identify those responsible.