INDORE: The Government Railway Police (GRP) have arrested a 25-year-old railway contract worker for posting multiple bomb hoaxes on Twitter to skip work and meet his wife and newborn daughter. The youth identified as Pramod Mali, 25, was arrested by GRP from Ujjain railway station on Friday.
Mali, a resident of Mumbai, allegedly used his co-worker, Milan Rajak's, mobile phone and tweeted about bombs being placed in Gorakhpur-Bandra Terminus Humsafar Express train between May 11 and 18. Rajak, 44, was also arrested from Ujjain station based on their mobile location, GRP officials on Friday.
The two accused worked as housekeeping staff in trains: SP
GRP SP Nivedita Gupta said that the accused, Pramod Mali and Rajak worked as housekeeping staff in trains under a private railway contractor and wanted to delay the train as much as possible so that they would not have to board the next train for duty which departed Bandra within three hours of their arrival and would get time to spend with their families.
During questioning, the accused alleged that the contractor forced them to work without a leave or break, seven days a week. The only break they used to get was about three hours after the arrival of Gorakhpur-Bandra Terminus Humsafar Express at Bandra station and departure of the next train. The train arrives at Bandra station at around 8.30 am and the contractor allegedly forced them to board for duty Paschim Express (12925) train which departs at 11.35am, officials said.
"Mali's wife delivered a baby-girl three days ago," she said, adding, that the man left with no options to spend time with wife and newborn, hatched a plan, and started making hoax calls through Twitter to delay the train's arrival at Bandra station. On the night of May 11, Mali tweeted from Rajak's phone that a has been bomb planted in one of the AC coaches of Gorakhpur- Bandra Terminus Humsafar Express. The train was searched when it reached Ratlam station, and the tweet was found to be a hoax. However, the search operation delayed the train by an hour.
A case under IPC section 177, 66 (F) of IT Act, along with relevant section of the Railways Act, 1989 has been registered against the duo.
