A railway staffer has been taken into custody for stealing 10 ‘harmless’ detonators that went off on a track during the passing of a military special train in Madhya Pradesh, an official said on Monday.

Ten detonators, termed "harmless" by the Railways, went off on a track near Sagphata between Nepanagar and Khandwa stations of the Bhusawal division on September 18. The explosion prompted the authorities to halt a military special train for two minutes.

A track patrol duty staffer has been taken into custody in connection with the incident, the Railway Protection Force said.

"We have registered a case against one Sabir on Sunday for stealing the detonators under section 3 (a) of the Railway Property (Unlawful Possession) Act," inspector Sanjeev Kumar of Khandwa RPF told.

Sabir is a mate, a rank higher than a gangman, who patrols tracks, he said.

Only two or three government departments have these detonators, and they were not issued to the accused officially, he said.

The official said Sabir claimed that he was absent from duty and was drunk on the day of the incident.

The RPF had questioned another staffer and let him go after serving him a notice, he said.

Central Railway's chief public relations officer Swapnil Nila on Sunday said that the Railways regularly used these detonators.

The detonators are called crackers, and when they explode, they make a loud sound, which is a signal for an obstruction, fog or mist ahead, he said. Another top railway official said a military special train was going from Khandwa at the time. “After the warning signal or ten harmless detonators on track went off, our deputy station superintendent (Sagphata) heard the sound. He got the military special halted and got things checked. The train was allowed to proceed in just two minutes,” he said.

Notably, Railway detanator is used for loud warning signal purposes only to the train driver. When wheel passes over, it explodes, emitting a loud bang.