Train hits stone placed on railway track in UP, no damage reported
Ballia (UP), Sep 28: The engine of a train hit a stone placed on the railway track in the Bairia area here on Saturday, officials said, adding that no damage was caused.
The incident assumes significance as it was a fresh one amid several cases of gas cylinders, pillars etc being found on railway tracks in Uttar Pradesh.
Public Relations Officer of the North Eastern Railway Ashok Kumar told PTI that on Saturday a stone was found on the railway track between on the Varanasi-Ballia-Chhapra rail section at 10.25 am.
He said the cattle guard of the engine of the 15054 Lucknow-Chhapra Express going from Lucknow to Chhapra (Bihar).
Kumar said that on seeing the stone placed on the track, the loco pilot applied emergency brakes.
He said that after inspection, the train resumed its journey and the loco pilot did not report any kind of damage in this incident.
SHO of the Bairia police station Ramayan Singh said the incident happened in front of Yadav Nagar of the Chand Diyar village before the Manjhi bridge on UP-Bihar border. He said that a passenger train had also passed through this route half an hour before the Lucknow-Chhapra Express train.
Meanwhile, Circle Officer (Bairia) Mohammad Usman said that at around 10.40 am on Saturday, about 300 metres before the Manjhi railway bridge, some sleeper coaches of the train got scratched due to the engine's safety guard hitting the stone in the middle of the track.
"On receiving the information, we immediately reached the spot with the police force and inspected it," he said, and added that the local police and the Railway Protection Force (RPF) are investigating the spot.
Prior to Saturday's incident, on September 22, two people were arrested in connection with the alleged derailment bid of the Naini Jan Shatabdi Express by placing six-metre-long iron pole on track between the Bilaspur Road and Rudrapur City railway stations on September 18 in Rampur, police said.
The driver of the Naini Jan Shatabdi Express averted a possible accident when he applied the emergency brakes on seeing the iron pole across the tracks near Uttarakhand's Rudrapur, officials said, adding it could be sabotage.
On September 22, a goods train driver spotted an empty LPG cylinder on the tracks, and applied emergency brakes to stop the train near the Prempur station in Kanpur, the second such incident in Uttar Pradesh this month.
On September 8, an attempt was made to derail the Kalindi Express, heading towards Bhiwani from Prayagraj, by placing an LPG cylinder on the tracks. The train hit the cylinder before coming to a screeching halt.
On August 17, the Sabarmati Express derailed between the Kanpur and Bhimsen stations in Uttar Pradesh, a Railway Board official had said.
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Pace sensation Mayank Yadav gets India call-up, Varun Chakravarthy recalled after three years
India squad for Bangladesh T20Is
New Delhi, Sep 28: India's fastest bowler Mayank Yadav on Saturday got fast-tracked into the Indian team for the three-match T20I series against Bangladesh after completing his near five-month rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy.
The team set to be led by Suryakumar Yadav only has one more senior -- former T20I skipper Hardik Pandya -- in its ranks as all the recent IPL performers have been selected.
Mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy, who plays for Kolkata Knight Riders, got a recall after three years since his nightmarish T20 World Cup campaign in the UAE in 2021.
Nitish Reddy, the back-up seamer all-rounder after Pandya and Shivam Dube, also got a look-in after he missed out on the recent Zimbabwe tour owing to an injury.
The talented players like Riyan Parag, Abhishek Sharma, Harshit Rana have all found a place in the 15-man squad that has Jitesh Sharma as the second keeper behind Sanju Samson.
The biggest surprise is certainly the inclusion of Mayank, who consistently bowled mid-150 clicks for Lucknow Super Giants during three of his four IPL matches including back-to-back Player of the Match awards which garnered global attention.
It was during mid-IPL, the 22-year-old Mayank, who hails from Delhi, was ruled out due to lower abdominal strain.
Such has been his talent that he was wrapped in cotton wool with an extensive rehabilitation programme and of late has been bowling 14-15 overs per day at the NCA.
However, it is believed that before being unleashed into red ball format in Ranji Trophy, Bangladesh series is the best opportunity for the national selection committee and head coach Gautam Gambhir to check out how he is coping at the international level with only four overs to bowl.
If his body holds up well, they might slowly draft him into the longer formats as he is considered a prospect who will serve Indian cricket for the longest time.
Chakravarthy, a vital cog in KKR's victorious IPL campaign under Gambhir's mentorship, was overlooked as recently as the tour to Zimbabwe and also Sri Lanka despite an impressive 21 wickets from 14 games.
However, it is understood that Gambhir was very keen on having Chakravarthy, who mainly bowls fast leg-breaks along with a deceptive wrong 'un.
India will play three T20Is in Gwalior (October 6), New Delhi (October 9) and Hyderabad (October 12) against Najmul Hossain Shanto's Bangladesh.
India’s squad for 3 T20Is against Bangladesh: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Riyan Parag, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Mayank Yadav.
