Bangladesh News

Government Railway Police (GRP) yesterday arrested five people in connection with the theft of 3,510 metal clips of train lines in the capital Friday and one of them admitted to police his involvement in the act.

Railway officials and investigators suspect involvement of low-level serving and retired railway staffers in the theft which put at least 17 trains at risk of serious accidents.

“It would not have been possible to steal such a large number of metal clips of around 1.5 kilometres of track without their [current and retired railway workers] involvement,” said a top railway official seeking anonymity.

Police investigators said arrestee Swapan admitted his involvement in the theft. He told investigators that he received Tk 1,000 for the job from another arrestee Saiful, a security guard of Max Automobiles, sub-contractor of Chinese company which was awarded the job of converting the metre-gauge lines to multi-gauge from Joydevpur to Dhaka.

He said he assisted in stealing as a member of a professional gang of thieves led by Liton. He could not say where the stolen clips were.

Police arrested Saiful at Banani but could not glean any information from him as of 8:00 last night. They also arrested Liton and were interrogating him.

The other arrestees are Abul Hossain and Jamal. All five were arrested from Tejgaon Railway Station and Banani areas yesterday.

“Swapan admitted his involvement in the theft but we are yet to recover any stolen goods,” Officer-in-charge of GRP Police Station Mahbubur Rahman told The Daily Star last night.

Investigators and railway sources suspect involvement of low-level serving and retired railway staff in the stealing, as they believe such a massive job could not have been possible without their knowledge.

“It is taking 50 workers two days to install the metal clips. It is hard to believe that without the involvement of railway staff, such thing could happen,” said an investigator seeking anonymity.

Chief Engineer of Bangladesh Railway Abul Kashem, however, said investigation is going on and proper action would be taken against the offenders, whoever they may be.

Railway officials said there is over 2,800km of railway tracks across the country. There are employees responsible for examining five to seven kilometres of track each. They examine the lines for faults during the day. There is no way to oversee the lines after dark.

ENQUIRY COMMITTEE
A three-member enquiry committee headed by Abul Kashem was formed late on Friday.

The committee has been asked to submit its report with recommendation within three days. The two other members of the committee are Bangladesh Railway’s Chief Engineer (Eastern region) Noor Mohammad and Chief Commandant (Eastern region) Faruq Ahmed.

Earlier, another committee headed by Assistant Superintendent of Railway Police Rakhal Chandra Sutradhar was formed to investigate the incident. The committee was given 10 days to submit its probe report.