Fire extinguisher on tracks sparks scare, probe finds it to be railway property
Kanpur (UP), Sep 29: A fire extinguisher that may have accidentally fallen off a train set off a scare on Sunday when the driver of another passenger train applied brakes after spotting the cylinder-like object on the rail tracks between Govindpuri and Bhimsen stations here, according to officials.
"The incident occurred when the train was heading to Lucknow from Mumbai. It had hardly reached Govindpuri station when the driver spotted a cylinder on the tracks at around 4 am on Sunday," Additional Director General (Railways) Prakash D said.
The loco pilot immediately passed the information to the control room. The cylinder was later found to be a fire extinguisher, belonging to the railways.
The ADG said that the railway officials launched an investigation jointly with the Railway Protection Force(RPF) and Government Railway Police (GRP) and found there was no criminal intent behind the act.
The findings further claimed that there is no external or other criminal involvement in this case, ADG added.
"In the inquiry report, the railway officials stated that the fire safety cylinder was railway property and it was issued by the section engineer (carriage & wagon) Gorakhpur and it may have fallen from any other train accidentally," said the ADG adding that no FIR has been lodged regarding the matter.
The railway officials are on an alert following similar incidents recently.
A 16-year-old boy was apprehended for allegedly putting a fencing pillar on the Banda-Mahoba rail track, causing disruptions on Saturday. The driver of a passenger train had to apply emergency brakes to stop the train after he noticed the concrete pillar on the tracks, the police said.
Also, the engine of a train hit a stone placed on the railway track in the Bairia area in Ballia on Saturday, officials said, adding that no damage was caused.
The RPF has formed a special team to solve the case, and patrolling is being done on the rail route, while police has lodged an FIR, the officials said.
RPF Inspector VK Singh told PTI, "We believe that this has been done with the intention of derailing the train. The current conclusion of the team in this case is that some unknown person has placed the stone."
On September 8, an alleged attempt to derail the Kalindi Express, heading towards Bhiwani from Prayagraj, was reported when an LPG cylinder was found on the tracks in Kanpur.
Just a week ago, an empty gas cylinder was also found on the tracks by a goods train loco pilot near Prempur railway station. Both incidents are being investigated.
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Leopard picks up three-year-old child from outside house in New Tehri, body found in bushes
New Tehri, Sep 29: A man-eating leopard killed a three-year-old child after picking him up from outside his house here while he was playing with his cousins, with officials saying his mutilated body was found in bushes nearby.
The officials said the incident happened at Purwal village around 5 pm when Ankit Kumar's son Raj Kumar was playing in the courtyard of the house with his maternal uncle's children.
Bhilangana Range Officer of Tehri Forest Division Ashish Nautiyal and Purwal village head Sanjay Tiwari said the child stepped out while playing and went behind the house where a leopard was already sitting in ambush.
The animal picked up the child and dragged him away.
Not finding her son around in the house, Manju Devi started searching for him. Later, her neighbours also gathered there, but the child could not be found.
Meanwhile, somebody noticed blood stains on the road behind the house.
The blood stains led people to the bushes from where the child's mutilated body was recovered, the officials said.
