ALAPPUZHA: The Railway Police and the state police have intensified the investigation into the alleged attempt to sabotage trains at Kayamkulam. Though three attempts of suspected sabotage were reported at Kayamkulam in two months, the investigation team is yet to unearth significant leads into the incidents.
The investigators suspect the attempts were not sabotaged but theft attempts by ragpickers.
Meanwhile, K C Venugopal MP submitted a letter to Railways Minister Piyush Goyal demanding a foolproof investigation into the incidents. In the letter, Venugopal asked for the deployment of a high-power team. The recurring incidents of sabotage is creating panic among the people and it should be removed through an investigation, the MP said.
The latest incident happened on Saturday when an old rail piece was found on the railway overbridge south of the Kayamkulam railway station. A rail track inspection employee (keyman) spotted the rail piece weighing around 80 kg placed on the track early morning. A week ago, a similar incident happened where an electrical inspection van of the Railways was broken open and copper cables placed on the track. Another attempt of suspected sabotage happened two months ago near the rail crossing at Cheravally. A huge signal box was placed on the track, with the box being struck off the track by a train.
Kayamkulam CI K Sadan said the incident is suspected to be an attempt of theft. “We have questioned ragpickers from the region. The modus operandi leads to suspicions ragpickers may be behind the incidents,” he said.
The Railway Police have also launched an investigation into the incident.The dog squad and other scientific investigation teams collected evidence from the spot.