Rampant theft of spares makes train movement risky

On several occasions, police recovered truckloads of stolen spares. Cases were filed with police stations in the area, but there has been no let-up in the pilferage, sources said.

At places, local public representatives were involved in the pilferage, they said.

The miscreants steal mainly joint plate, nut, bolt, panel clip from tracks and bridges. There are 10 railway stations in Sylhet-Akhaura section of Bangladesh Railway.

The pilferage reached such a stage that the Engineering Section of Railway on August 8 ordered lowering of speed limit of trains in the hilly areas between Rashidpur and Satgaon stations, the sources said.

At least 35 incidents of pilferage took place in the last five months in Srimangal-Kulaura and Srimangal-Lashkarpur portions.

Elastic rail clip, joint, bolt, hook bolt of rail bridges, guardrail and bearing plate, rail post, rail panel etc. are being stolen they said.

The criminals even take away wires and other spares from signal posts at places. They also steal rail piles used for protecting bridges.

Railway officials claimed that cases are lodged with police, but those were not followed by any action.

On May 10, a letter was given to Railway Police along with a list of 10 persons having criminal records, but to no effect, they alleged.

On April 19, the situation was discussed at a Sylhet meeting of high officials of Railway, but there is no sign of any action yet.

Pilferage was detected near Lashkarpur, Rashidpur, Satgaon, Bhanugachh, Shamshernagar stations recently. Angles, joint plate, pandel clip and bolts of

rail slippers were taken away from at least three bridges in the area.

Last week, more than 800 panel clips were stolen from these

places, said a railway official at Srimangal.

Railway employees engaged in repair of rail tracks said the pilferage has increased due to rise in the prices of iron and metallic items.

An Executive Engineer of Railway seeking anonymity said that they gave reports on pilferage along with "lists of suspected persons" to all police stations near rail tracts in Moulvibazar and Habiganj districts. But nothing has been done, he alleged.

On August 2, a truck was caught with 81 plates and pieces of rail tracks of around 1262 feet, stolen from track No. 3 in Shamshernagar railway

station. The truck was caught when it met with an accident while fleeing with the stolen goods.

Sources claimed that the pilferage occurred at night in presence of some local people's representatives, railway employees and rail police.

The thieves took the stolen goods to a nearby house and cut those into pieces for easy transportation. Police had forced shopkeepers in and around the railway station to down their shutters when the pilferage was going on, locals claimed.

When contacted, the Officer-in-Charge of Srimangal GRP admitted that on August 4, they seized a truck loaded with about 10 tonnes of railway

plates stolen from Shamshernagar station yard. A case was lodged with Srimangal GRP but none was arrested.

A railway official seeking anonymity said that during a visit on August 5,

he found about 100 feet rail track missing from the line in Shamshernagar railway station.

Local Union Parishad Chairman Abdul Gafur said a Railway engineer

admitted to him about the pilferage.

Sources said a number of organised gangs are engaged in the large scale pilferage being done in connivance with some railway employees, security men and some people's representatives in the areas.