Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu felicitated Railway Employee Ashwani Kumar for his alertness and courage in detecting the bomb and saving the lives of hundreds of passengers in Punjab. Shri. Ashwani Kumar is working as Keyman of a gang on pathankot - Amritsar section of Firozpur division of Northern Railway. The Railway Minister presented a cheque of Rs.50,000/- as a reward to Ashwani Kumar. On this occasion, Minister of State for Railways Shri Manoj Sinha, Chairman Railway Board, Shri A. K. Mital, Member Engineering, Railway Board Shri V. K. Gupta and General Manager, Northern Railway Shri A. K. Puthia were present. The citation was also read on the occasion.
On 27-07-2015 a terrorist attack was made in Gurdaspur district of Punjab in early morning hours. A suspected bomb type object was planted on bridge no 236 on Pathankot-Amritsar Railway Line (near Dinanagar). Keyman Shri. Ashwani Kumar while doing patrolling duty detected the same at around 6:00 hrs. He immediately swung into action and ran in the direction from where Train No 54612 was approaching towards the bridge. Without caring for his personal safety, he managed to stop the train before the bridge. 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.