MP: Attempt to derail special military train foiled, detonators found on railway track

Bhopal: Detonators were placed on a railway track near the Sagphata railway station under Nepanagar area in Burhanpur district in Madhya Pradesh to target a special military train passing through the railway station on September 18, police suspected.

The railway protection force (RPF), and the special branch of Madhya Pradesh police have begun a probe separately into the incident to find out the motive behind the planting of the detonators on the railway track.

“They were not RDX-based detonators, but in real sense they were ‘patakhas’ (crackers) used by the railways to alert the driver to stop the train by creating a sound.

But, in this case, the detonators were not placed by the railways. The RPF is conducting the probe to find out who placed the detonators on the railway track and what the intention behind it was”, the Central Railway chief public relations officer (CPRO) Dr Swapnil Nila told this newspaper on Sunday.

Authorities maintained confidentiality since the matter related to the military.

Officials from National Investigation Agency (NIA), anti-terrorist squad (ATS) of Madhya Pradesh police and other intelligence agencies reached the neighbouring town of Khandwa in MP late on Saturday evening further expanding the scope of the probe, sources said.

Police suspected that an attempt was made to derail the army special train from Jammu and Kashmir to Karnataka by placing ten detonators on the railway track near the Sagphata railway station at around 1.48 pm on September 18.

The driver became alert after an explosion caused after the train passed over one of the ten detonators and stopped the train, averting a mishap, sources said.

The driver immediately alerted the station master on the incident, sources said.