PALAKKAD: Officials from the Palakkad railway division and a group of officers from the forest department in Coimbatore engaged in a tussle on Saturday. Five forest officers reached the memu shed of the Palakkad railway division to verify the speed at which the train had travelled when it knocked down three wild elephants at Navakkarai, between Walayar and Ettimadai. To their surprise, the railway officers detained them.
Railways said the forest officials entered the engine of the train and took away the memory card of the speedometer immediately after the accident on Friday night which amounted to trespassing. They came back with the card on Saturday and wanted Railways to retrieve the data and allow them to record the proceedings on their mobile phone cameras. Railway officials objected to it.
Earlier, loco pilot M T Subair and assistant loco pilot Akhil of the Mangaluru-Chennai Express, who reported at the forest station in Podhanur as part of the inquiry on Saturday morning, were not allowed to return. They were later taken to the divisional forest office in Coimbatore to record their statements.
Around 6pm, both parties mutually agreed to release the personnel. The memory card was given back to the railways.