Railway employee arrested for placing 10 'harmless' detonators on tracks, disrupting special Army train

NEW DELHI: A railway staffer was taken into custody by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) on Monday for allegedly stealing 10 "harmless" detonators that went off on a track during the passing of a military special train in Madhya Pradesh last week, an official said on Monday.

The incident occurred on September 18, when a military special train was briefly halted for two minutes due to the explosion of ten detonators near Sagphata, located between Nepanagar and Khandwa stations in the Bhusawal division. The railways described the detonators as "harmless".

In relation to the incident, the Railway Protection Force has taken a track patrol duty staffer into custody. Inspector Sanjeev Kumar of Khandwa RPF informed PTI, "We have registered a case against one Sabir on Sunday for stealing the detonators under section 3 (a) of the Railway Property (Unlawful Possession) Act," PTI news agency reported.

Sabir, who holds the position of mate, a rank above gangman, is responsible for patrolling the tracks.

According to the official, these detonators are only accessible to two or three government departments and were not officially issued to the accused. Sabir, in his statement, claimed that he was not on duty and was intoxicated on the day the incident occurred.

Sabir was charged under section 3 (a) of the Railway Property (Unlawful Possession) Act for the theft of the detonators, according to inspector Sanjeev Kumar of Khandwa RPF.

The detonators are only issued to a few government departments and were not officially given to Sabir, who was intoxicated at the time of the incident. The court granted Sabir's remand to the RPF for questioning, as stated by Central Railway RPF commandant Manoj Kumar, who has additional charge of the RPF unit of Bhusawal division.

"The signal detonators do not cause harm. They are just crackers. There is no explosive matter in it. It is just a mixture. It is specifically designed for putting on tracks to make a sound and not to explode. The sound alerts the driver to any obstruction. These are also called fog signals," Kumar explained. The military special train, which was heading to Khandwa, was allowed to proceed after a thorough check following the detonation incident.