Three arrested for attempt to derail Ahimsa Express in Dec

Three persons were arrested today for allegedly trying to derail the Pune-Ahmedabad Ahimsa Express in late December by placing benches on the railway tracks, police said.

Surat Police Commissioner Satish Sharma said the accused were ganja smugglers and they tried to derail the train as they were angry at not being able to smuggle contraband on trains because of increased police patrolling.

"They were part of a group of around a dozen persons who hauled two benches lying on the side of the rail track and placed them on the track at a spot between Surat and Utran railway stations in the early hours of December 28. Their intention was to derail the Ahimsa Express," the official said.

Police said that the group committed this act on the instruction of Surat-resident Dilip Pandi who is also involved in ganja smuggling.

"Preliminary investigation has revealed that the arrested accused and others were involved in smuggling of ganja from Odisha using trains. They were angry as they were not able to do anything due to measures taken by the police to control smuggling. They then tried to derail the train," Sharma said.

An accident was averted at the time as the driver of the train managed to apply brakes just in time, police said.

An FIR was lodged with the Katargam police here following this incident under relevant sections of the IPC and the Railway Act, police said.

The three have been identified as Duryodhan Das, Beerji Bahera and Balram Musa, all originally from Odisha, and were nabbed after search operations in Utkal Nagar and Ashok Nagar localities here, they added.