Mishap averted near Dhakuria station

Kolkata: A major train accident was averted after a few gangmen of Eastern Railway's (ER) Sealdah South Section found several pendal clips were removed near Dhakuria railway station on Tuesday morning.

However, till Tuesday night no complaint was lodged at the Ballygunge Government Railway police station.

According to sources, on Tuesday morning, around 9 am, a few gangmen were checking the railway track near Dhakuria railway station. While doing so they saw several pendal clips which keep the track in its place were removed from both Up and Down track.

Immediately they put up red flags on the both ends of the track between the stretch where the clips were removed.

Later gangmen informed the station master as well as the nearest signaling point.

As soon as the information received at the Dhakuria railway station, all the local trains in Sealdah South section were stopped.

Later, the pendal clips were reinstalled and services resumed after almost half an hour.

Controversy was sparked over how the clips were removed as these task require specially designed equipment. Also only railway employees who are engaged in track repairing and its maintenance can remove these easily.

However, till Tuesday night no clues could be traced regarding the incident.

Also no complaint has been lodged with the GRP.

ER's Chief Public Relation Officer (CPRO) Nikhil Chakraborty said: "At that moment our primary aim was to resume normal services as soon as possible. Our men

reinstalled the clips within short period of time and the services were resumed after 15 minutes. The matter will be inquired thoroughly to know how were those pendal clips removed."