Patna, Feb. 8: The Dibrugarh-bound 13236 Dn Rajdhani Express had a providential escape on Wednesday morning after its driver was alerted of a damaged track just 3km ahead of it between Mansi and Maheshkhut railway stations in Khagaria district.

The train reached Mansi railway station at 7.02am and was supposed to cross the track that falls under East Central Railway's (ECR's) Sonepur railway division, about six minutes later - at 7.08am.

About half an hour earlier, around 6.30am, Sunil Kumar, a resident of Bakhtiyarpur village in Khagaria district, spotted the damage on the down line and immediately informed the railway police force at Mansi railway station. The authorities swung into action and alerted the driver of the Delhi-Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express.

The train was detained at Mansi, around 185km east of Patna, for nearly 45 minutes as a precautionary measure.

Railway protection force (RPF) inspector B.P. Mandal said he rushed to the spot on a motorbike and informed the officials concerned, who detained the train around 3km from the damaged site.

Mandal said residents heard a thud after the Tripura-Sundari Express crossed the track around 6.05am. On checking they noticed the crack. "When I visited the spot, I found a four and a-half inch gap. It took over 30 minutes to repair it. The train reassumed its onward journey at 7.50am," the RPF inspector told The Telegraph over phone.

He said the damaged track could have derailed the train. "We've informed senior railway officials," Mandal said.

Arvind Kumar, the station house officer (SHO) of Mansi government railway police station, said the police were trying to ascertain the reason behind the damage to the track.

On Monday, passengers of the Sealdah-Varanasi Express had a narrow escape when a crude bomb exploded on the track in Buxar district. The blast was of low intensity and did not damage the track.

Instances of damage to tracks assume significance in the light of intelligence reports that railways were on the radar of the Pakistan's intelligence agency, the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI). The arrest of three suspected ISI operatives - Motilal Paswan, Mukesh Yadav and Umashankar Patel - from East Champaran in January double the fear.

A senior RPF official said railways are an easy target, being largely unguarded. At least 45 cases of sabotage on railway tracks across the country were reported last year.