Passengers of the New Delhi-Guwahati Rajdhani Express escaped with minor injuries on Tuesday morning when the train was derailed in eastern Bihar due to the removal of two metres of the tracks by suspected Maoists.
Fourteen coaches of the train jumped off the tracks but stopped short of turning turtle as the alert driver, Mohammed Qamruddin Hassan, applied the emergency brakes on time, before the engine reached the damaged tracks near village Amba, between Naugachia and Kharik railway stations under the Katihar-Barauni rail section in Bhagalpur district. The incident took place at around 6.30 am. Joginder Singh, the train’s superintendent, said a major accident was averted primarily because the train was not at a high speed when the emergency brakes were applied.
All the passengers were mostly safe, barring minor injuries sustained by 11 passengers. They were taken care of well by the railway authorities. “After being provided breakfast, the passengers were taken by a special train to Dibrugarh, from where arrangements were made for them to reach their respective destinations,” said Sonepur DRM R.K. Agrawal.
“This prima facie appears to be a sabotage because the two metres of removed tracks were found missing from the spot in our preliminary probe. A team of forensic experts from Patna have been dispatched to conduct a thorough investigation,” said Agrawal. The railways later ordered a statutory probe into the derailment.
Though the Naugachia area, where the derailment took place, and Bhagalpur district are not known to be Maoist infected, the Bihar police believe the modus operandi of the sabotage pointed at a Maoist hand. “A proper investigation would soon start,” said Bihar police ADG (headquarters) P.K. Thakur.