Tripura governor demands investigation into railway tracks sabotage

Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy said on Saturday "sabotage" was being attempted on the newly laid broad-gauge Agartala-Udaipur railway line in the state and demanded an investigation.

"Cases of sabotage of newly-laid rail track taking place in parts of Tripura. Removal of fish plates and an attempt at sawing through a rail have been reported. I am in touch with General Manager, N.F. Railway and the state government," Roy said in a tweet.

Speaking to IANS, the Tripura Governor said: "I came to know about the incident in December end last year after finding the report published in a local newspaper."

Demanding a proper investigation into the matter, Roy said it could have been carried out by anybody... insurgents or Rohingyas.

On January 24, 2017, then Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu inaugurated the 44.76 km new rail line beyond Agartala -- up to the temple city of Udaipur.

The rail line section is part of the 114-km Agartala-Sabroom broad gauge line project.

The anticipated cost of the Agartala-Sabroom project is Rs 3,351 crore and would be completed by March 2019.

There are three crossing stations -- Bishalgarh, Bishramganj and Udaipur -- and one halt at Skerkote on the Agartala-Udaipur railway line. There are 58 road crossings and 87 major and minor bridges across the new line.

Northeast Frontier Railway General Manager Chahatey Ram, said: "Two incidents of the track tampering were found in early December."

He said in one case, the railway team found the fish plates of the tracks were removed for over a distance of 15-20 metres.

"While in another incident, which was reported a week later, there were marks of saw of the tracks which indicated that someone tried to cut the rail," he said.

He also said that the matter was reported to police immediately and a case was lodged.

--IANS

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