Placed detonators on tracks to frame senior who assigned ‘difficult duties’, Railway staffer tells police

Shabbir was on Thursday sent to police custody for a further seven days after he was produced before a local court following the expiry of his three-day custody. He was arrested by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) Monday.

A senior officer told The Indian Express that the accused allegedly admitted to stealing the detonators from “the senior section engineer’s cabin”.

“The accused claimed during his three-day remand that the senior Section Engineer deliberately harassed him by assigning him difficult duties. The accused had been warned multiple times by his superiors to behave professionally as he would turn up drunk for work,” the officer said.

The officer said the accused stole a “box of detonators that were under the Section Engineer’s supervision, intending to frame him, as any investigation would initially target the engineer”.

However, agencies are investigating the veracity of Shabbir’s claims. “We are not satisfied with his statement and are investigating the case from several angles,” a senior RPF officer said.

Swapnil Nila, Chief Public Relations Officer, Central Railway said, “The actual motive for the act is not yet clear. This is why his custody has been sought for seven days, to find out the real motive.”

The RPF began looking into the case of the detonators on September 19. From the site, they recovered some detonators that were intact. After examination, it was confirmed that these were railway detonators, typically used during foggy conditions to signal or indicate any emergency obstruction on the track, officials said.

Officials said there was “no valid reason for placing them, indicating it was either a conspiracy or mischief”.

Shabbir was employed as a mate, whose job involved patrolling the tracks with gangmen. Mates are issued a box of detonators, containing 10 pieces, and they must provide a reason for using them to receive another box. After duty, detonators must be returned to the gatekeeper or station master, officials said.