RailEnquiry

Ten days after an anonymous hoax bomb call delayed Vaigai Express a special team of the Government Railway Police (GRP) traced and nabbed the caller, a hotel waiter, on Saturday.The GRP team pinned down the accused N. Nagaraj (40), a native of Pulivalam in Tiruvarur district, with the aid of the cell phone number from which he had made the threat call when the train arrived at Tiruchi Junction from Madurai on July 3.The team got hold of the photograph of Nagaraj from the BSNL and picked him up at Tiruchi Railway Junction today, GRP, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Tiruchi, K. Rajavel told reporters here on Saturday evening.A 10{+t}{+h}standard drop out and one fond of watching police story films, Nagarajan had made the threat call just to gauge and test the reaction of the police, DSP Rajavel said after conducting detailed inquiry with the accused.The threat call delayed the departure of the Chennai-bound Vaigai Express from Tiruchi for nearly two hours causing immense hardship to the travellers.

The superfast express train left Tiruchi after the GRP, Railway Protection Force and the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad of the City Police conducted thorough checks with the call ultimately turning out to be a hoax.

The accused destroyed the BSNL SIM card hours after making the threat call from Tiruchi to the GRP helpline number from his mobile phone and stayed at Punnainallur near Thanjavur the same night.

A special team constituted on the direction of the Additional Director General of Police, Railways R. Sekar immediately swung into action getting hold of the mobile number and traced his address.

Shifted locations

Realising that the police were after him, the accused kept shifting locations going to Mannargudi and later on to Tambaram and from there on to Arakkonam where he worked in a hotel as a waiter for five days, DSP Rajavel said.

Upon realising that he was spotted by the police at Arakkonam, Nagaraj fled to Tiruvarur yesterday and came to Tiruchi on Saturday when the team finally apprehended him, Mr. Rajavel said.

The GRP Tiruchi has registered a case against the accused under IPC sections including 507 (criminal intimidation by an anonymous communication).

He was a hotel waiter with a penchant for police thrillers