LUCKNOW: As many as a dozen persons, including two local history-sheeters, were detained for grilling in connection with the bid to derail the Bhiwani-bound Kalindi Express which narrowly escaped a major disaster in Kanpur at midnight on Sunday.
Kapur Police Commissioner Akhil Kumar said the information extracted from the detained persons was being verified and the facts were being put together to get a detailed picture of the attempt to derail the express train. The Kalindi Express had hit an LPG cylinder kept on the tracks and a Molotov cocktail was also spotted nearby as it rolled into Kanpur.
Meanwhile, keeping in mind the fact that it was the second alleged sabotage attempt within 23 days, Kanpur police have decided to be a part of collaborative surveillance measures along the railway tracks which will have people from the Government Railway Police (GRP) and the Railway Protection Force (RPF) as well. To take the probe into the alleged sabotage angle further, a high level NIA team has rushed to Kanpur to join the ongoing probe, said the police authorities.
"A team from the NIA, led by a woman IPS officer of the 2012 batch, has started investigating the site where the LPG cylinder was found placed on the railway tracks," said a senior police source.
"The NIA team has started gathering details about the incident. They are also undertaking a survey of the entire area around the railway tracks (where the LPG cylinder was found)," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Rajesh Kumar Singh. ADG Railways also arrived on the spot to be a part of the probe, said a police official.
An FIR has been registered and teams have been formed by multiple agencies including Uttar Pradesh's Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) and Special Task Force to probe the matter, officials said.
Meanwhile, the Kanpur Police have decided to form a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the matter, said the police authorities adding it would also study if there were any similarities between the recent Sabarmati Express derailment and the bid to derail the Kalindi Express, both in Kanpur.