<p>Barely 15 minutes before the Durg-Puri Express was to pass through Sakhigopal railway station, about 40 km from here, on Friday, the key-man noticed the fish plate missing and alerted the authorities.<br /><br />Confirming the incident, Divisional Railway Manager, Khurda Sanjeev Garg said the matter was being investigated by the Railway Protection Force and Government Railway Police.<br />An FIR had been lodged with the GRP about the missing fish plate, he said.<br /><br />Though a couple of trains had passed through the spot before the key-man spotted the missing fish plate, it was not clear if it was in place when the trains moved, he said.<br />Stating that the tracks were regularly inspected on an hourly basis by patrol personnel, key-men and gang-men, Garg pointed out even then it was possible for a few trains to have passed through the spot without the fish plate in proper place.<br /><br />"Absence of fish plates cannot remain unnoticed for a long period due to regular inspection," he said adding fish plates were in use in a very few places these days as the new system involving long rails do not require these metal bars to join the tracks together.<br />He said the Sakhigopal area was theft-prone and there had been instances of metal objects, bars and scraps being stolen by miscreants.</p>
<p>Barely 15 minutes before the Durg-Puri Express was to pass through Sakhigopal railway station, about 40 km from here, on Friday, the key-man noticed the fish plate missing and alerted the authorities.<br /><br />Confirming the incident, Divisional Railway Manager, Khurda Sanjeev Garg said the matter was being investigated by the Railway Protection Force and Government Railway Police.<br />An FIR had been lodged with the GRP about the missing fish plate, he said.<br /><br />Though a couple of trains had passed through the spot before the key-man spotted the missing fish plate, it was not clear if it was in place when the trains moved, he said.<br />Stating that the tracks were regularly inspected on an hourly basis by patrol personnel, key-men and gang-men, Garg pointed out even then it was possible for a few trains to have passed through the spot without the fish plate in proper place.<br /><br />"Absence of fish plates cannot remain unnoticed for a long period due to regular inspection," he said adding fish plates were in use in a very few places these days as the new system involving long rails do not require these metal bars to join the tracks together.<br />He said the Sakhigopal area was theft-prone and there had been instances of metal objects, bars and scraps being stolen by miscreants.</p>