The Train From 2014
No, that’s not the name of a ’50s B-movie. A goods wagon carrying fertiliser recently arrived in Basti, Uttar Pradesh—completing a 1,400-km odyssey that began in Vishakhapatnam four years ago. In 2014, Wagon #107462 (also not a film), attached to a freight train, departed the Andhra port with a consignment of fertiliser worth Rs 10 lakh, to be delivered to a Basti businessman, Ramchandra Gupta, but there was no sign of it for months and Gupta filed a complaint with the railways, which was unable to track it down. When the prodigal rolled into Basti last week, Gupta was of the mind to seek compensation from the railways. Officials remain puzzled, although some speculate that the wagon could have been detached from the train, as is occasionally done when there are technical problems involved.