MUMBAI: Three men were arrested on Saturday for allegedly throwing a gunny bag filled with iron rods onto railway tracks in Mumbai’s western suburbs, creating a serious risk for train commuters.
The incident occurred on November 6, when the station master at Bhayander railway station received an urgent alert. A motorman operating a Churchgate-bound local train had spotted a suspicious gunny bag on the tracks and immediately stopped the train, preventing a potential disaster.
Railway Protection Force (RPF) officers who inspected the bag found it contained seven iron rods. “The bag posed a serious danger to commuters. Based on the threat, we registered a case and launched an investigation,” said a Vasai Government Railway Police (GRP) officer.
The breakthrough in the case came after investigators reviewed CCTV footage from several railway stations between Palghar and Mira Road. The footage showed three men boarding a train at Virar station while carrying the suspicious bag.
The suspects were identified as Vikas Rajbhar, Jaisingh Rathore, and Vikram Gupta, all residents of Bhayander. They were arrested on Saturday. The men, who work as daily wage laborers at construction sites, admitted during interrogation that they had stolen the iron rods from a construction site in Virar. When they couldn’t find a buyer for the stolen items, they decided to dispose of them by placing the bag on the railway tracks.
Police are continuing their investigation to determine whether the men intentionally placed the bag on the tracks to cause harm or if it was a reckless attempt to dispose of the stolen materials.
