Ticketless ‘godman' kicked off train, tampers with rails
Chennai: "Godmen don't need to buy tickets. I was kicked off trains for not having one. That's why I tried to sabotage them," said a man arrested for tampering with rail tracks in Tamil Nadu and Telangana.
The successive instances of sabotage between April 26 and 29 at Avadi, Ambattur and Arakkonam had triggered nationwide alarm and the NIA too had joined the investigation.
The culprit, however, turned out to be a 43-year-old Class XII dropout from Odisha who claimed to be a godman. The man, who styled himself as 'Om from Haridwar on a spiritual journey' believed godmen didn't require tickets, because they were above such rules.
He was caught in Hyderabad two weeks ago after he tampered with the tracks between Kacheguda and Budvel and his game was up.
TN's Govt Railway Police flew to Haridwar but found no record of an 'Om' there. Instead, they found his real name was Vijaykumar and that he was drifter who worked as an electrician in several states before staying at a mutt near Tiruttani. That's where he assumed the persona of a godman and believed he didn't need a ticket to ride.
"He said he placed metal objects and stones on railway tracks, angry at being thrown off trains for not having a ticket," said GRP superintendent I Eswaran.
It was just providence that his actions did not result in a tragedy. At Arakkonam, metal rods and stones were wedged across six rail joints. An accident as averted only because the loco pilot of the Tirupati-Puducherry Express noticed a signal anomaly and halted the train in time.
The pattern became clear only after his arrest. He was brought to Chennai on a transit remand last week. He is now remanded in judicial custody and lodged in Puzhal prison.
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