Close shave for Kalindi Express as loco pilot spots LPG cylinder on tracks

An LPG cylinder was placed on the tracks in the Shivrajpur area near Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, on Sunday (September 8) evening in a suspected attempt to derail the Kalindi Express, heading towards Bhiwani from Prayagraj.

The train hit the cylinder before coming to a screeching halt, police told news agency PTI. The cylinder was thrown away from the tracks in the impact, they said.

Loco pilot applied emergency brakes

Soon after receiving information about the incident around 8.20 pm on Sunday, senior police officials hurried to the site and launched an investigation. A forensics team was also called in and the Railway Protection Force (RPF) has also joined the probe, they said.

Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Harish Chandra said the loco pilot saw that the LPG cylinder on the tracks and applied the emergency brakes.

Petrol, matchboxes near cylinder

The train hit the cylinder before coming to a halt. As a result, the cylinder was thrown off the tracks. The loco pilot informed the guard and the gateman about the incident, he said.

The train was stationed at the incident site for about 20 minutes and again stopped at the Bilhaur station for investigation, the ACP said.

The damaged cylinder has been recovered. A bottle of petrol and matchboxes were also recovered from the spot, Chandra said.

He said efforts were being made to identify the culprits and they will be dealt with sternly.

(With agency inputs)