Bareilly-Varanasi Express halted after wooden block found on railway track

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], October 26 : A two-foot-long wooden block was discovered on a railway track between Malihabad and Kakori railway station in Uttar Pradesh, disrupting the train services on October 24. The Bareilly-Varanasi Express (Train No.14236), struck the wooden block, weighing over six kg, which prompted the train driver or local pilot to apply emergency brakes to avoid an incident.
Train services were halted for nearly two hours to ensure safety and were resumed only after the obstruction was cleared from the tracks.
Following the incident, the station masters were alerted and a thorough check was conducted on the tracks. During the inspection, railway officials found another wooden block, raising concerns about possible sabotage to derail the train in Malihabad.
A First Information Report (FIR) under sections 151 and 153 of the Railways Act 1989 has been filed by the authorities to investigate the matter further.
An FIR was lodged by Senior Section Engineer Ajay Kumar at the Malihabad police station. Kumar stated that an alert was received from the Malihabad Station Master, indicating that a wooden branch was lodged in the train's locomotive between kilometer markers 1096/10 and 1096/06 on the down line.
Deputy Commissioner of UP Police West, Omveer Singh said, "On October 24, the Khana Incharge Malihabad was informed by Railway Protection Force (RPF) Sandila Inspector that after walking about 1 km towards Lucknow, a wooden block has been kept on the track. On this information, RPF and Inspector Malihabad immediately reached the spot for inspection. A meter-long piece of a tree branch was lying on the track.
The incident came to light two weeks after an empty LPG cylinder was discovered on the railway tracks near Roorkee, Uttarakhand.
Indian Railway revealed that nationwide there have been 18 such attempts since August. This incident is one of many in a recent surge of train derailment attempts across India.