Indebted Gujarat labourers held for attempting to derail train to rob passengers

Two indebted farm labourers have been arrested for attempting to derail an Okha-Bhavnagar train in Gujarat’s Botad district on September 25 as part of a plan to rob passengers, police said. Jayesh Nagarbhai Bawaliya, 24, and Ramesh Kanji Saliya, 55, allegedly devised the plot after watching some videos on YouTube.
The two were arrested amid a series of attempts to derail trains at separate places in the country. Railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw last week said they were working with state governments, police chiefs, and the federal anti-terror National Investigation Agency (NIA) to track those trying to derail train operations and harm passengers by placing objects on tracks.
Police superintendent (Botad) Kishor Baloliya said the two allegedly placed a rail piece vertically on the tracks near Kundli village around 3:30am on September 25, about 12 kilometers from Botad town, to derail its bogies.
Police said the accused watched YouTube videos on how to derail trains before attempting the derailment. The engine of the Okha-Bhavnagar train stopped after hitting the iron rail piece as Bawaliya and Saliya waited in a nearby cotton field. They fled the scene on a two-wheeler when the train did not derail.
The two allegedly stole the rail piece from a nearby railway repair site. “…they fled the scene…and attempted to evade the arrest,” said Baloliya. He said the police zeroed in on Bawaliya and Saliya after a joint probe that also involved NIA. Baloliya said the two have been booked under Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita’s Sections 61, 62, and 125 related to voluntarily causing hurt, grievous hurt, and sedition. Police were probing to determine if more people were involved in the plot.
Bawaliya and Saliya were arrested days after three trackmen in the railways’ maintenance department, Subhash Poddar, Manish Mistry, and Shubham Jaiswal, were held in Gujarat’s Surat for sabotaging a track near the Kim station on September 21. Police said the three wanted recognition and to continue their night patrol duties, which provided them more free time during the day.
Poddar, Mistry, and Jaiswal allegedly removed fishplates and loosened bolts on the track and then alerted authorities, falsely claiming that they had averted a possible train accident. Police said the three confessed to tampering with the tracks for rewards and to extend their favourable duty hours.