Accused arrested in Gujarat for attempting to derail train are indebted labourers

The two accused arrested for attempting to derail a train in Gujarat were indebted farm labourers.The police arrested Jayesh Nagarbhai Bawaliya, 24, and RameshKanji Saliya, 55, when they were trying to attempt a train derailment in the Botad district of the state. The train was travelling from Okha to Bhavnagar on September 25.

The two accused took the help of some YouTube videos to devise the plot.

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Bawaliya and Saliya have been booked under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita’s sections 61, 62 and 125 related to voluntarily causing hurt and sedition. Police were probing to determine if more people were involved in the plot.

Train derailments in the past

The arrest comes at a time when a series of attempts to derail trains took place at separate places in the country. Railways minister Ashwini Vaishnav said last week that they are working with state governments, police chiefs and the federal anti-terror National Investigation Agency (NIA) to track those trying to derail train operations.

In March, four Sabarmati-Agra superfast coaches travelled from Sabarmati, Gujarat to Agra, Uttar Pradesh, and derailed near Rajasthan’s Ajmer. Kiran also said railway officers and employees took “immediate action” after the incident and have begun working on repairing the track. The reason for the derailment was not immediately known.

In July, several coaches of a train going from Howrah to Mumbai got derailed in Jharkhand. At least two people have been killed and 20 others were injured after 18 coaches of the 22-coach train got derailed

The opposition parties took a hit at the ruling BJP party and Railways minister Ashwini Vaishnav that railway disasters like train derailments are becoming the new norm in the country due to a lack of security from concerned authorities. This is the first time that police have mentioned that the accused in this case were indebted and might have done this for some extra money.

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Earlier, three trackmen were arrested in the same incident by the railways’ maintenance department. Subhash Poddar, Manish Mistry and Shubham Jaiswal were held in Gujarat’s Surat for sabotaging a track near the Kim station on September 21.

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Police said the three wanted recognition and to continue their night patrol duties, which provided them more free time during the day.

Poddar, Mistry, and Jaiswal allegedly removed fishplates and loosened bolts on the track and then alerted authorities, falsely claiming that they had averted a possible train accident. Police said the three confessed to tampering with the tracks for rewards and to extend their favourable duty hours.

(With inputs from agencies)