An explosion took place at a bridge on the Udaipur-Ahmedabad railway line on Saturday, November 12, 2022 as an attempt was made to blow up a railway bridge. Following the explosion, the railway track was left with multiple cracks, and gunpowder was later found on the spot. The bridge was dedicated to the nation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi less than a fortnight ago.
The explosion occurred at 10 PM on Saturday night as the unidentified suspects targeted the railway bridge and tracks. The explosion took place on a railway bridge near Salumbar Road about 35 km from Udaipur. The sound of detonation was also heard by the locals who reached the spot following the explosion. The train on the line had passed four hours prior to the explosion. Later, the train coming from Ahmedabad to Udaipur was stopped at Dungarpur.
District Collector Tarachand Meena said, “A conspiracy was hatched to blow up the bridge with a detonator. The Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of Rajasthan Police reached the spot and is investigating the terrorist angle in this incident.” Udaipur SP said, “Looking at the incident, it seems that it has been executed after a lot of planning. The detonator belongs to the Super 90 category.”
#Rajasthan: उदयपुर-अहमदाबाद रेलवे ट्रैक को उड़ाने की साजिश नाकाम, मौके पर ATS टीम पहुंची, देखें वीडियो pic.twitter.com/b1FYwcGhjb
— Subodh Sundriyal (@subodhsundriyal) November 13, 2022
Following the explosion, gunpowder was found on the railway line. The iron tracks were found broken in many places. Not only that, nuts and bolts were removed from the railway track. Seeing the seriousness of the situation, the locals informed the administration. After this, trains on this route were stopped.
While speaking to the news agency ANI, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, “There was an explosion on a track about 35 kilometers away from Udaipur. The teams of state government ATS, central government NIA, and railways RPF – all of them are there on this site. The moment the information came, everybody reached the site. The investigation is going on. Whosoever has done this kind of destructive activity, will be severely punished. We will go to the logical end. We will make sure that those people who have tried to destroy the track and cause a big accident, will be punished to the logical end.”
#WATCH | There was an explosion on a track about 35 km away from Udaipur. Teams of ATS, NIA & Railway’s RPF are on site. Investigation is underway. The accused will be severely punished. The team to restore the bridge is ready on the site: Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw pic.twitter.com/u5AB8DAor4
— ANI (@ANI) November 13, 2022
He added, “Simultaneously, from the point of view of the passengers, the team to restore the tracks is ready on the site. As soon as the preliminary investigation is done, within 3-4 hours, the trains will start working again.”
As soon as the preliminary investigation is done, within 3-4 hours, the trains will start working again. We have deployed the best possible teams to investigate this: Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on an explosion on the broad gauge railway track near Udaipur, Rajasthan pic.twitter.com/Q9SsowwSTD
— ANI (@ANI) November 13, 2022
He further said, “We think it is very dangerous because of the recent happenings in Udaipur. So we are very concerned about it. We have taken all possible steps. We deployed the maximum possible and the best possible teams to complete the investigation.”
The Udaipur-Ahmedabad train was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 31, 2022. This track had to wait for 6 long years. Earlier, there was a meter gauge (short line), which has been converted into a broad gauge. Rs 1700 crore has been spent on this project.
