Udaipur, 13th November 2022: A dangerous conspiracy was hatched to blow up the Udaipur-Ahmedabad broad gauge railway line inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with explosives. The miscreants attempted to blow up the Oda bridge in front of the Kevda forest in the Udaipur district. Due to the explosion, cracks came on the railway track, and some parts broke apart. Ammo has also been found on the spot. The Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) team has reached out to investigate the incident. the investigation is ongoing from the angle of a terrorist conspiracy.
Reportedly, the villagers had heard the sound of an explosion on Saturday night. When some villagers were passing through the Oda bridge on Sunday morning, they informed the police after seeing the situation. As soon as the information was received, Udaipur Divisional Commissioner Rajendra Bhatt, Udaipur District Collector Tarachand Meena, Superintendent of Police Vikas Sharma, Railway Area Manager Badri Prasad, and many top officials reached the spot.
The Railways has cancelled both the passenger trains running between Udaipur-Ahmedabad. If the repair of the track is completed by Sunday night, then both the passenger trains will be able to run on Monday. Meanwhile, the train coming to Udaipur on Sunday has been stopped at Dungarpur station itself, and the railways have taken the service of buses to take the passengers coming to Udaipur. Apart from the investigation team of ATS, personnel of the ERT-Emergency Response Team (ERT), Railway Police, and District Police are present at the spot. The villagers are being questioned about the incident.
Regional Railway Officer Badri Prasad said that due to cracks in the tracks, they would now be replaced. After a complete investigation, the operation of the train will resume on this line. At present, the operation of the Udaipur-Ahmedabad passenger train and the train coming from Ahmedabad has been stopped on Sundays. After repairing and checking the track, traffic on this line may start again by Monday night. Here, according to Captain Shashi Kiran, Chief Public Relations Officer of North Western Railway, both trains will operate from Ahmedabad to Dungarpur on Monday. At present, trains will not be able to operate between Dungarpur and Udaipur.
An attempt has been made to blow up the track by blasting the bridge at Oda, about thirty kilometres ahead of Udaipur, from where the Udaipur-Ahmedabad passenger train had departed four hours earlier. An attempt has been made to blow up the track by blasting the bridge at Oda, about thirty kilometres ahead of Udaipur, from where the Udaipur-Ahmedabad passenger train had departed four hours earlier.
The first-meter gauge line was between Udaipur-Ahmedabad. Then the train used to operate between Udaipur and Ahmedabad. The work of converting this line into a broad gauge started eight years ago and the trains running between Udaipur-Ahmedabad were hit by brakes. On completion of the work, Prime Minister Narendra Modi once again flagged off the operation of the train on this track on 31st October. He flagged off the first Ahmedabad-Udaipur passenger train broad gauge at Asawara railway station in Hamdabad. The same evening, the Udaipur-Ahmedabad train also left from Udaipur, which was flagged off by Gulabchand Kataria, the Leader of the Opposition in Rajasthan.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has taken this incident seriously. He termed the incident of damage to railway tracks on the Oda railway bridge of the Udaipur-Ahmedabad rail route as worrying and has instructed Director General of Police Umesh Mishra to conduct a detailed investigation.
Udaipur District Collector Tarachand Meena said that after seeing the situation on the spot, it can be said that this is a big conspiracy of miscreants. Due to the alertness of the villagers, a major accident was averted. He informed the administration, police and railway officials before the arrival of the passenger train coming from Ahmedabad to Udaipur. It appears that explosives used in mining were used for the blast. This has caused cracks in the tracks. Nut bolts on the tracks are also missing.
Udaipur Superintendent of Police Vikas Sharma said that from the initial investigation it appears that the blast was done after thorough planning. A detonator has also been found on the spot, which is of the Super 90 category. The bomb squad and forensic team reached the spot and collected evidence. By evening, it will be known what kind of explosives have been tried to blow up the tracks.
Udaipur Zawar Mines Station Officer Anil Vishnoi said that the material used in the mining blast has been used. Indigenous explosive material has been found.