10 held over goods train derailment in Chhattisgarh; excavator bucket left on track caused incident

Bilaspur, Jul 14 (PTI) The Railway Protection Force (RPF) has arrested 10 persons in connection with the derailment of a goods train at Kargi Road railway station in Chhattisgarh's Bilaspur division, while the prime accused remains absconding, officials said on Tuesday. The derailment had occurred on Monday at 2.20 pm. Three wagons of an empty N-Box-914 rake derailed on line number 3 at platform 2 of Kargi Road station. The RPF said the incident was caused after an excavator bucket of a backhoe loader machine was left on the railway track by labourers as they fled on spotting an approaching train. It was found during the investigation that the excavator bucket (heavy steel scoop attached to the arm of an excavator used for digging soil) had been transported from Indore to Kargi Road in the AC coach of the Indore-Bilaspur Narmada Express with the alleged involvement of a coach attendant, acting on the instructions of private contractor Pawan Nayak of Anuppur district in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, it said. After being unloaded at the Kargi Road station, the bucket was being shifted by labourers towards another platform. But when a goods train approached, the labourers allegedly abandoned the heavy equipment on the track and fled, resulting in the derailment of three wagons, the RPF said. The force said investigators analysed CCTV footage from railway stations between Indore and Bilaspur, which established that the bucket had been loaded into the train at Indore railway station. Based on CCTV footage, interrogation of the coach attendant, mobile phone location data and other technical evidence, the RPF arrested 10 persons under relevant provisions of the Railways Act. Those arrested are Mohammad Shamir, the coach attendant; Abhishek Yadav, who allegedly placed the order for transporting the bucket, and eight others accused of participating in the loading and unloading operation, it said. They were arrested within 10 hours of the incident, it added. The prime accused, private contractor Pawan Nayak, is absconding, and efforts are underway to trace and arrest him, the RPF said, adding that raids are being conducted at multiple locations as part of the investigation. PTI COR NP