Meerut-Lucknow Rajya Rani Express derailment: GRP blames negligence of railway officials; terror angle being investigated

After eight coaches of the Meerut-Lucknow Rajya Rani Express (22454) derailed near Rampur in Uttar Pradesh at 8:15 am on Saturday, April 15, the Government Railway Police (GRP) has registered an FIR in Rampur against unknown railway officials for negligence. 

Meerut-Lucknow Rajya Rani Express derailment: 15 injured, UP CM Yogi Adityanath announces compensation (PHOTOS)

Additionally, the Uttar Pradesh police has also said that a three-foot long portion of the railway track, where the Rajya Rani Express derailed, was missing. "Sabotage cannot be ruled out," KK Chaudhri, SP of Rampur, told PTI. 

The incident that took place between Rampur and Mundapanda, near a bridge over the Koshi river, left 15 people injured. Though no casualty was reported, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, as well as the Indian Railways, have announced a compensation for the injured.

Meanwhile, the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has already inspected the area and B Srivastava, additional SP of ATS, said that they will soon submit a report to the senior officials. The inspector general of the anti-terrorist squad, Asim Arun, also inspected the spot to find out the cause of the derailment. 

The Rajya Rani Express is just another addition to the recent list of similar accidents. On March 30, eight coaches of the Jabalpur-Nizamuddin Mahakaushal Express went off the tracks near Mahoba in Uttar Pradesh. Around 40 passengers on board the Delhi-bound train were injured.

Thirty-two passengers died and over 50 were injured when the Jagdalpur-Bhubaneswar Express derailed in Vizianagaram on January 21, 2017.

The worst of all these accidents was the Indore-Patna Express that derailed at Pukhrayan, 60 km from Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, leaving about 150 dead and over 200 injured.

Though most of these accidents have been blamed on the poor infrastructure and mistakes of the maintenance in-charge, terror angle cannot be ignored.