Title - Railway police ‘hand over’ barge to Magistrate in Rameswaram

The Tamil Nadu Railway Police (TNRP), which took possession of the barge that crashed into the Pamban rail bridge on January 13 after registering a case against Titagarh Marine, formally ‘handed over the property’ (barge) to the Judicial Magistrate in Rameswaram on Friday.The TNRP personnel handed over a letter containing details of the barge, presently anchored at the Rameswaram port, and a rope used to pull the barge after it went aground before crashing into the bridge, to the Magistrate. The Kolkata-based Titagarh Marine, which made ready the barge to be handed over to the Indian Navy at Karwar, is likely to file a petition before the court on Monday, seeking possession of the barge and set sail to Karwar next week after completing legal formalities, sources told The Hindu.A tug boat, towing the barge from Kolkata, was waiting to cross the rail bridge on the northern side when the barge, after anchor failure, drifted and crashed into the century-old rail bridge in the small hours of January 13, forcing suspension of train services between Mandapam and Rameswaram island for a week. Sources said that representatives of the Indian Navy had made a representation before the Judicial Magistrate on Friday, explaining the urgency in securing the barge. The barge remained anchored at Rameswaram port since January 13, and the tug boat, which was trapped among rocks, since January 27.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) of the TNRP, who had taken over the investigation from the Inspector, is also likely to submit his report before the court on Monday, sources said.

Based on a complaint lodged by the Senior Section Engineer, Pamban bridge, that the barge had caused damage to the tune of Rs.1.5 crore to the railways, the Marine Police of the Coastal Security Group (CSG) had initially registered a case against Titagarh Marine under Section 151 of the Indian Railways Act for causing damage to railway property.

It later transferred the case to the TNRP which had arraigned the Captain of the tug boat, Shamir Kanti Kanjilal, the Able Seaman, Ratul Shankar Chatterjee, and the Pamban Port Conservator, Mariselvam, as accused in the case. The TNRP had arrested the Captain and Seaman on February 1. They were, however, released on bail the same day on condition that they should appear before the TNRP station at Rameswaram daily and sign the registrar for 10 days.

After complying with the bail condition, the two left for Kokata on Thursday.