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It could have been a black Thursday for the state last week, had it not been for the vigilance of a 48-yearold railway staff.
Sunny Kurien, the railway signaling technician instrumental in averting a tragedy with the discovery of the pipe-bomb in Piravom, will be awarded the covetous ‘Railway Man of the Month’ award along with a cash prize by the Railways next Monday, said Thiruvananthapuram DRM Rajesh Agarwal.
Sunny was going about his routine check when he heard the sound of ticking, at quite an alarming speed.
The experienced technician came across an odd object lying on the junction signal box, inches away from the railway track.
“The bomb was kept in a tiffin box, which looked similar to the box used for repairing the signals. It could have been easily mistaken for the repair box, but for the ticking of the timer. Also, there were many unusual wires across the mouth of the box,” he said.
Sunny, who has been in the role for 22 years, lost no time in realising that the box was no joke. Counting on precious time, he called the station master informing him of the improvised explosive device.
Further, the classes that he had attended on railway safety had taught him enough to understand that the timer was improperly set. “I was just performing my duty,” says the man hailing from Athirampuzha in Kottayam.
Sunny recalls his years as a junior when he first joined the service in the South Central Zone as a signaling technician. “I’ve come across many deaths on railway tracks, that are mostly cases of suicide. It is the first time that I am coming across such an incident,” he said. “Thousands of lives can be lost, if we fail to provide the proper railway signals,” says Sunny about his job.
Lauding Sunny’s dedication to his job, the Railway officials said, “Prior to the discovery of the bomb, we hear that there were many who had passed by. However, it was his dedication that gives him the edge.”
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