A Delhi-bound Rajdhani Express train collided with a cement pillar at Valsad in south Gujarat, but no one was wounded as per officials. They believe the pillar was put on the railway track by miscreants in an effort to derail the premium train from Mumbai on Friday evening. The incident occurred at about 7.10 p.m and a complaint has been filed in this regard.
In the matter, a Valsad rural police station spokesman stated that a cement pillar built on the railway track near Atul station near Valsad was struck by the Mumbai-Hazrat Nizamuddin August Kranti Rajdhani Express train. The pillar was forced off the railway after being struck by the train. He went on to say that the train continued without any issue, and no passengers were injured.
Further, Rajkumar Pandian, Range, IG of Surat, told reporters that the cement pillar had been erected on the railway by some miscreants. After the train collided with the structure, the train manager quickly notified the local station master. It looked to be an effort to derail the train, he claimed, adding that authorities are looking into it. A FIR was filed against unnamed criminals, and attempts are underway to apprehend the perpetrators using technology surveillance and human intelligence.
Meanwhile, days before Republic Day, security authorities discovered and defused an improvised explosive device (IED) in Srinagar’s Nowhatta district on Friday. An IED was also discovered and defused in the national capital’s Ghazipur flower market. “Police and the CRPF discovered a suspicious bag at Khawaja Bazar Chowk in Srinagar’s Nowhatta neighborhood,” a police officer said.
According to him, a bomb disposal team was dispatched to the scene, where they discovered a four to five litre pressure cooker (suspect IED) in the bag. The IED was eventually detonated on the scene by the bomb squad, according to the official. Meanwhile, an abandoned bag containing an IED device was discovered in the morning at Delhi’s Ghazipur flower market, authorities said, adding that the item was eventually defused.
The event occurred just days before the national capital’s Republic Day celebrations on January 26. In the run-up to the event, the city’s security apparatus is on high alert. At 10.19 a.m., fire officials got information about a suspicious unattended bag that was discovered at the flower market.
Officials from the Delhi Police’s Special Cell, the NSG’s explosives detection and disposal unit, and fire tenders arrived quickly and cordoned off the area. NSG personnel in bomb suits were observed at the location where a bomb disposal container known as a complete containment vessel (TVC) was delivered. The investigation into the case has already commenced. The video footage from 15 CCTV cameras in the area of the market has also been retrieved by the Special Cell.
The National Security Group has gathered samples of the device and will perform a forensic study to determine how the IED was put together. The explosion seems to be a nitrate mixture at first glance. Investigators are looking at the route map to see how the IED got to market and who was responsible for putting it.
