Diva

CST

Masjid Bunder

Mumbai

The 19 year old accused had placed the object on the tracks for fun

Central Railway

Motorman who spotted the object

Days after 6 men were arrested for trying to derail trains nearin Jan, a balloon seller held on Saturday for placing a 60-kg object on tracks betweenand MasjidIn yet another case of a miscreant trying to derail trains, a 19-year-old balloon seller living on the pavements near Kala Ghoda has been arrested for placing a 60-kg iron piece on tracks betweenand CST on Saturday. Deva Sukhlal Kol has been charged for sabotage under Section 150 (1) (2) of the Railways Act and remanded in police custody till April 29. The accused told the police that he placed the iron piece all by himself, “for some fun“. Late on Sunday, he told the police that he was earlier thrashed by a few cops, and had placed the object as an “act of revenge“.The six-foot long iron log was spotted just in time by motorman DN Parghi, who was piloting a Badlapurbound fast local from CST. “I saw the rail piece around 4.50 pm. It was not in the line of my train, but was placed on the tracks below the Carnac Bunder Bridge. I'm extremely thankful to a few commuters from a train going towards CST, who screamed that a large object was placed on the tracks,“ Parghi toldMirror.All this while, the accused was loitering around the tracks, waiting for a train to crash into the rail piece. The Government Railway Police (GRP) officers who rushed to the spot spotted him fleeing. They said he confessed to have placed the rail piece, and that he may have tried stealing it with the intention of selling it to scrap dealers at Masjid Bunder.Senior Divisional Security Commissioner () Sachin Bhalode said, “ASI Shivram Singh and a constable rushed to the spot and arrested the accused. He has confessed to the crime, and has been booked for sabotage.“ A GRP officer interrogating the accused said he initially said he had placed the iron log on tracks for fun; later he changed his statement, saying he was beaten up by a few railway cops for loitering around the tracks, and wanted revenge. “The accused appears to be a drug addict. He could also be trying to steal the rail piece,“ the officer said.This incident comes less than 10 days after six people were arrested by the Mumbra police for placing a 380kg rail piece on tracks near Diva on January 25, with an intention to derail a long-distance train.Fortunately, Harish Chinchwale, piloting a Madgaon-Dadar Jan Shatabdi Express, spotted the object in time and averted a major accident.It was 10.30 pm, and the train had come within touching distance of the object.Regarding Saturday's incident, motorman Parghi said he had slowed down the train's speed after alerts from the commuters in the other train. “Had a train crashed into the object, the result could have been disastrous,“ he said. The Central Railway's Divisional Railway Manager Ravindra Goyal said Parghi will receive a cash reward and a certificate.