A portion of a meter gauge railway (MGR) line, used for transporting coal, was blown up by unidentified miscreants in Jharkhand's Sahibganj district, police said on Wednesday. The track was being used to transport coal from the Eastern Coalfields Limited's Rajmahal coal project in Godda to and from The National Thermal Power Corporation's (NTPC) Farakka-based thermal power plant in West Bengal.
The incident reportedly happened near Ranga village in Barhet police station area around midnight. As per police, criminal gangs are suspected of being involved in the incident.
"We have started an investigation," Superintendent of Police of Sahibganj Amit Kumar Singh told news agency PTI.
The track was not reportedly part of the Indian Railway network, and around 470 cm of the line was blown up in the explosion, police said.
After the accident, rail service on the route has been disrupted. However, there was no loss of life or property in the explosion.
As per an official statement issued by NTPC, it was evident from the site conditions that the criminals intended to derail the coal rake which was about to pass the site later.
"On October 2, at around 6 am, a part of a rail track on a Hume pipe culvert at 40.1 KM from Farakka was found broken and missing at Guthutola area of village Ranga near Barhait station. The broken part of the Rail was found lying at approx. 40m from the spot," NTPC said.
"Two concrete sleepers were found broken with around 40 pandrol clips found missing. A crater on the earth below the broken part of Rail was also observed. It is evident from the site conditions that the criminals intended to derail the coal Rake which was about to pass the site shortly. Prima-facie It appears that the damage has been caused by an explosion," it added.
The public sector undertaking added that it is highly unsafe to run MGR trains under such conditions.