Four held for theft of joggled plates fromrailway tracks

PRAYAGRAJ: Thieves dismantled joggled fish plates from railway tracks on Delhi-Howrah route near Sujatpur railway station in Kaushambi district on Saturday evening. The joggled plates are being installed for support to the railway tracks and are heavy. Earlier, the thieves had made off with earth strip from repeater home at Sirathu.

Four people, including a scrap dealer, had been arrested in this connection, RPF said.

Joggled fish plates are specially designed with convex centre to accommodate weld collar at newly welded joints till ultrasonically tested or to protect defective welded joints and to carry out emergency repair of weld failures.

Bharwari RPF outpost in-charge Surendra Paswan on Saturday found that thieves had made off with the joggled plates weighing around 40 kilograms. The RPF launched a hunt and arrested one Noor Khan and Gyanchandra who confessed to their involvement in the theft of earth strip from Sirathu also. RPF officials said their act may have caused a major train mishap.

On their confession police arrested their accomplice Parmeshwar Prajapati and scrap dealer Suresh Prasad who purchased the stolen items.