A six-feet-long iron pipe was found placed on the railway tracks at Kundayithode between Kerala’s Kozhikode and Kallayi railway stations on the busy Shoranur-Mangalore route early Sunday morning.
The pipe with three inches diameter, which could have been a serious threat to the long-distance, high-speed trains passing through the track, is believed to have been placed across the tracks between 2.40 am and 2.50 am Sunday. The local police and the Railway Protection force have started investigations into the matter.
Police sources said that there was mystery over the appearance of the object on the railway tracks. Thirty-four holes were found drilled on the railway tracks in the same area in May last. Officials said they would examine whether the new incident had any connection with the appearance of the holes.
The object was found by the loco pilot of a light engine which was passing along the adjoining tracks. The pipe was removed and handed over to the authorities of the Feroke railway station. Kozhikode City Police Commissioner AV George said the Circle Inspector of the Cheruvannoor police station had been given the charge of the probe. “The preliminary inference is that the object could have been placed there in order to alert the authorities about the possibility of sabotage in and vulnerability of the area but this is not clear. This had happened just before a long-distance train running at close to 100 kmph was to pass through the track,” said a senior official of the RPF.