3 Railway Staffers Sabotaged Tracks in Surat For Promotions, Day Offs: Police

New Delhi: Three railway employees in Gujarat ’s Surat district were arrested for allegedly tampering with railway tracks in an attempt to stage a false sabotage and take credit for preventing a train accident. Surat Rural Superintendent of Police (SP) Hotesh Joysar, informed that the accused—Subhash Poddar (39), Manish Mistry (28), and Shubham Jaiswal (26)—are trackmen in the railway maintenance department. Their alleged motive was to receive praise, accolades and day off.

For the unversed, the incident took place on September 21, when the three trackmen, while on inspection duty between Kosamba and Kim stations, alerted railway authorities at 5:30 AM. They reported that "miscreants" had removed critical components from the tracks, including elastic clips and two fishplates, which they claimed had been moved to a parallel set of tracks to derail an oncoming train.

The railway officials immediately informed the police, stating that a train had recently passed through the affected section of track before the alleged sabotage was discovered. However, as authorities began investigating, inconsistencies in the timeline raised suspicions.

SP Joysar explained that the short time gap between the train’s passage and the tampering raised doubts, leading them to examine the mobile phones of the accused. The phones revealed incriminating evidence, including videos of the compromised tracks filmed between 2:56 a.m. and 4:57 a.m.—well before the trio reported the incident. One of the accused, Mistry, had also attempted to delete some of the photos, further arousing suspicion.

Upon further questioning, the three confessed to fabricating the sabotage. They admitted to tampering with the tracks to gain recognition for saving the day, hoping to be felicitated by railway authorities. Their other aim was to extend their night-duty shifts, which would grant them daytime off to spend with their families. Poddar, the mastermind behind the plan, allegedly came up with the idea as their night duty during the monsoon season was coming to an end.

Initially, authorities suspected that unidentified individuals had removed the fishplates and loosened up to 50 bolts securing the tracks. However, the investigation revealed the involvement of the three trackmen.

The police have charged the accused under the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) and the Railway Act, offenses that could lead to lifer or even the death penalty.