Three railmen stage train sabotage for rewards in Surat, arrested

The investigation into the alleged incident of railway sabotage on September 21 near Kim in Surat, Gujarat has revealed that three railway employees had removed parts of the track to make it seem like an attempt to derail a train, reported TOI

They, however, took photos and videos and installed the fish plates and other removed parts back to claim rewards for averting an accident.

The three accused were arrested on Monday. Two of the arrested persons are trackmen, Subhash Podar and Manish Mistry, while the third, Shubham Jayswal, is a contracted worker.



Podar is a BSc graduate and is employed with the railways for nine years. He is from Bhagalpur in Bihar. Mistry is from Ankuri village in Patna, while Jayswal is from Savaiya Mahalwal village in Chandauli, Uttar Pradesh. All three currently live in Kim.

Police had registered a case on September 21 for damage to the tracks under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 3(5) (criminal act by several persons in furtherance of common intention), 61(2)(a) (criminal conspiracy), 125 (rash or negligent acts that put human life or personal safety at risk) and others. The accused were also booked under the Railway Act and the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.


The suspects initially told the police that they had seen three people run away from the tracks between Kim and Kosamba villages at about 5:15 am. They claimed that on examining the tracks, they found 71 elastic rail clip keys and two fish plates removed, and installed these back in 25 minutes. After the case was reported, police had doubts about how it could be done in such a short time.

"While examining their phones, we found a few photos and videos of the removed parts from their recycle bin that were shot between 2am and 5am. They could not explain this, which strengthened our doubts about their involvement," said Surat SP Hitesh Joysar to TOI.

The investigation has been handed over to the special operations group. Police will produce the accused in court on Tuesday.