Officials from the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL) reported that 54 elastic rail clips and liners were stolen from the up and down railway tracks of the dedicated freights’ Western Corridor at Silani village in Sohna.
This theft, discovered at 7 a.m. on Sunday during a patrol by private guards, marked the second such incident in the area within the last ten days. The timely discovery of the theft prevented a major train accident.
The DFCCIL assistant project manager stated that a police investigation is needed to determine whether the clips were stolen for metal theft or with malicious intent. The first information report was registered against unidentified suspects under Section 379 (theft) of the Indian Penal Code based on the DFCCIL assistant project manager’s complaint.
According to the assistant project manager, the stolen clips are crucial for the safety of freight train operations, as they bind the tracks to the sleeper using liners. He also expressed concern that such incidents were only reported in a specific stretch of the 1,506-km-long corridor passing through the Mewat region and Sohna.
The assistant project manager further noted that there was a possibility that some goods trains had already passed through the section of the track where the clips were removed. The police are currently attempting to identify the suspects, focusing on individuals involved in similar thefts in the past or who are known drug addicts.
The DFCCIL officials highlighted the corridor spanning from Dadri in Uttar Pradesh to Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Mumbai. The tracks built by the Indian Railways for double-decker racks have been operational for six months and play a crucial role in goods train transportation.
