Railway tracks clips ‘removed’ in UP: Local gives ATS CCTV footage of suspect

Police teams are trying to get a clearer image for identification.

A day after 308 clips that fasten railway tracks to sleepers were allegedly removed from a stretch in Lucknow city, the UP ATS on Monday received CCTV footage of a “suspect” from a local.

The footage provided by the local, whose house is located alongside the track, shows the “suspect” carrying a torch and walking on the track. Police teams are trying to get a clearer image for identification.

On Sunday, a woman, who also lives near the stretch, had claimed that she saw someone striking the track repeatedly with a hammer at around 3.30 am. IG (UP ATS) Asim Arun said they have recorded her statement.

A case was lodged at Lucknow’s Mahanagar police station on Sunday after the Pandrol clips were found removed and scattered around the track during a routine patrolling check by two railway trackmen early in the morning. The FIR was registered under section 150 (maliciously wrecking or attempting to wreck a train) of the Railways Act.

“It appears to be a planned act done by people who have technical knowledge. Also, it is an act of a group of more than 2-3 persons,” said Alok Srivastava, public relations officer (PRO) of the North Eastern Railways.

Srivastava said Pandrol clips of a total of 77 sleepers were found missing on the stretch between Badshah Nagar and Daliganj railway stations in Lucknow. “At around 1.30 am, when patrolmen Shivshankar and Sanjay crossed the stretch while checking the particular track, everything was alright. But when they were coming back on the same track at around 4.25 am, they found the clips missing,” the PRO added. On searching, they found the clips scattered near the tracks.

He further said that the patrolmen immediately alerted the station masters of both stations, after which the mechanical staff repaired the track within an hour.