Sabotage on railway tracks detected near Erode

Railway workers detected attempts to sabotage the running of trains by removing stones found on railway tracks near Ingur Railway Station in the small hours of Wednesday. Trains passing through the Ingur station, about 20 km from Erode, were delayed for about an hour.

According to Railway Police sources, gangmen Chellappan and Subramaniam, who were on a routine check, noticed around 1.30 a.m. two pieces of broken slabs and a boulder on the stretch of tracks between Ingur and Vijayamangalam. The place where the stones were found is about a km from the station. On a parallel track the gangmen also found slabs that were completely damaged as a goods train had passed by a little earlier.

They immediately informed the officials concerned who alerted the Railway Police and Railway Protection Force personnel. The officials alerted nearby stations to ensure that trains passing through the station then were stopped. An officer said two goods train and a train from Trivandrum were stopped for about an hour.

The trains were cleared for movement only after the security personnel declared it to be safe.

Sources said that the persons behind the incident had lifted the slabs, used to cover ducts, from near the tracks. The Tirupur Railway Police have registered a case in this connection.

Following the incident the police strengthened security at the Ingur station.