An award of Rs 50,000 has been approved for Ashwani Kumar for alertness and courage in detecting a bomb on the railway track in Gurdaspur, Punjab
An award of Rs 50,000 has been approved for the railway employee, Ashwani Kumar, for alerting authorities about a bomb being planted on railways tracks in Gurdaspur, by Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu.
Mr Kumar's alertness and courage in detecting the bomb helped in saving the lives of hundreds of passengers in Punjab, according to officials.
On July 27, a suspected bomb type object was planted on bridge no 236 on Pathankot-Amritsar rail line near Dinanagar, where the terrorist attack took place. Mr Kumar, who was on duty as Keyman on Pathankot-Amritsar section of Firozpur division of Northern Railway, had detected the bomb while on patrolling duty at around 6am.
Mr Kumar immediately swung into action and ran in the direction from where Train No-54612 was approaching towards the bridge, managing to stop the train before it crossed the bridge.
In a statement, the Railways Ministry said, "The daring act of Shri. Ashwani Kumar, Keyman saved the lives of hundreds of passengers who were travelling in the train and saved major bridge from damaging in Pathankot- Amritsar section. On account of his attentiveness and vigilance, a major mishap was thus averted."
He has now been awarded for his commendable performance, courage and dedication to duty.