Man arrested for placing iron pipe in railway track near Kozhikode

KOZHIKODE: Police have arrested a 53-year-old person for placing iron pipe on the railway track at Kundayithode near here on Sunday morning.
According to the police, Hussein, son of Beeran Koya, hailing from the locality, was picked up from his residence on Tuesday morning. He admitted to the police that he stole the piece of pipe from a vacant plot near a shopping complex with the intention of selling it at metal scrap shop.Police said he placed the pipe on the railway track to break it into pieces before selling it to the shop.
The loco pilot of the Mangalore-Santragachi Express stopped the train after he saw the pipe on the track. Hussein withdrew from the scene on seeing the loco pilot coming out of the train and people rushing to the spot He remained inside his house after he saw the news about the 'sabotage' attempt in the media.
Five teams of the police conducted probe into the incident and interrogated scores of persons from the locality. Police had ruled out the possibility of a sabotage right from the beginning itself.
The investigation was centred on the anti-socials and small-time criminals who roam around the area. Police prepared a list of around 100 persons in the area who are involved in thefts and creating nuisance after consuming liquor. They questioned the staff at the shops that sell metal sheets and pipes and those who buy metal scraps. They zeroed in on Hussein as his presence was established in the area at the time of occurrence. He had stolen metal scraps and sold them to shops in the past too.