Meerut: An alert driver saved the lives of hundreds of commuters on board Nanda Devi Express as he immediately applied emergency brakes after spotting a 17-foot iron rod on the tracks. The incident was reported from Meerut’s Pootha villlage around 4am on Sunday. While loco-driver Suresh Kumar used the emergency brakes, the train stepped on the iron bar before coming to a screeching halt. An FIR has been registered against unidentified people for attempt to derail train under relevant sections of the Railways Act 1989 at Partapur police station.Minutes after the incident, Kumar alerted the control room. Soon, senior superintendent of police Rajesh Pandey, superintendent of police (city) Ranvijay and other officials of police and local administration landed at the spot.“The derailment bid was foiled by the alert driver. Prima facie it looks like some miscreants, mostly chronic drug addicts, who steal fish plates and other railway equipment, placed the rod on the track,” the SSP said.Local residents said that this could be the handiwork of miscreants who often steal railway property to make a quick buck to buy drugs or alcohol. Police, however, are not ruling out any possibility at this point. “The matter will be taken up seriously despite our initial assumption of local miscreants being behind the incident,” the SSP said.Since April 2017, three major derailments have occurred in three sections of Northern Railway in UP. In the first incident, Rajya Rani Express derailed on April 15, 2017 near Rampur. On August 19, in another horrific derailment, Kalinga Express jumped tracks in Khatauli near Muzaffarnagar. A total of 21 lives were lost while dozens were injured in the accident. Four days later on August 23, another major derailment took place near Auraiya when eight coaches of Kaifiyat Express went off track. More than 20 passengers sustained injuries in the accident.

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