2 goods trains hit concrete blocks placed on Ajmer tracks

AJMER: While an attempt was made to derail an express train in Kanpur by placing an LPG cylinder on the railway track on Sunday night, a similar attempt was made - around the same time on Sunday - to derail two goods trains by placing concrete blocks on two parallel tracks near Ajmer in Rajasthan. Two goods trains hit the concrete blocks on both the tracks in a span of about two hours, police said on Tuesday.

Ajmer police have registered a case against unknown individuals for conspiring to derail trains by placing concrete blocks on tracks. Sources said a special investigation team (SIT) has been constituted.

Additional SP Ajmer (rural) Deepak Kumar Sharma told TOI on Tuesday: "The first collision took place around 10.20pm on Sunday, whereas the second one is believed to have taken place sometime between 11.30pm and midnight. The concrete blocks were placed on two different railway tracks (up and down), about one-km apart, and were hit by two goods trains."

Police have not ruled out the possibility of a pre-planned conspiracy.

"We are trying to determine where these concrete blocks were brought from. We are also looking for any construction being carried out on the highway or on railway land where such blocks might have been used," a police official said.

Meanwhile, in Kanpur, a National Investigation Agency (NIA) team has joined the probe into Sunday night's incident.

According to officials, bottles of petrol and matchboxes were also discovered at the site, along with the LPG cylinder, indicating a sabotage attempt, prompting the deployment of NIA to assist in the ongoing investigation.