Railway employee detained for stealing and setting off detonators in MP’s Burhanpur

The Railway Protection Force (RPF) on Monday detained a Railway employee for stealing detonators that went off on a track during the passing of a military special train in Burhanpur of Madhya Pradesh, PTI reported on Monday.

"Shabeer, a Railway employee has been detained by Railway Protection Force (RPF) for enquiry,” the Central Railway said.

It is important to note that ten detonators—termed "harmless" by the Indian Railways—went off on a track near Burhanpur of the Bhusawal division last week. The explosion prompted the authorities to halt a military special train for two minutes.

"We have registered a case against one Sabir on Sunday for stealing the detonators under section 3 (a) of the Railway Property (Unlawful Possession) Act," PTI quoted inspector Sanjeev Kumarof Khandwa RPF as saying.

Sabir is a mate, a rank higher than a gangman, who patrols tracks, Kumar added.

“After the warning signal or ten harmless detonators on track went off, our deputy station superintendent (Sagphata) heard the sound. He got the military special halted and got things checked. The train was allowed to proceed in just two minutes,”a top railway official told PTI.

Terming the detonators as "harmless", the Central Railway said these detonators are called crackers. When they explode, they make a loud sound, which is a signal for an obstruction, fog or mist ahead. The Railways regularly used these detonators.

Earlier on September 9, an LPG cylinder was placed on the tracks in Kanpur's Shivrajpur area in an attempt to derail the Kalindi Express. The train was heading towards Bhiwani from Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh.

UP Police said, the train hit the cylinder before coming to a screeching halt, the cylinder was thrown away from the tracks. The police discovered a bottle of petrol, matchboxes and a suspicious bag containing gunpowder-like substance from the site. Later Kanpur police detained six persons, including two local history sheeters, in connection with the case.