“Afrosiyob” train targeted in extortion (video)

An extortion attempt against the Afrosiyob train was committed in the area of the “Burqut” neighborhood, Paxtachi district, Samarkand, on January 14 this year, the State Security Service reported.

According to the findings, a reinforced concrete sleeper weighing 110 kg had been placed on the track of the moving Afrosiyob electric train on the 3,872-km section between the Ziyovuddin and Navoi railway stations. After 15–20 minutes, a train traveling at a speed of 159 km/h on the Tashkent–Bukhara route with 148 passengers on board collided with the sleeper. As a result, the train’s propelling parts were damaged.

The perpetrators were identified through joint rapid operations conducted by the Navoi department of the State Security Service and other law enforcement agencies.

It was established that a citizen born in 1988, residing in Navoi city, who had been working as a foreman in the railway barriers department at the Ziyovuddin Railway Section of the Bukhara Regional Railway Unit under Temiryo‘l Infratuzilma JSC, was transferred in December 2023 to the positions of track adjuster and railway barriers guard after the foreman position was abolished.

However, the former foreman conspired with a colleague born in 1992 and residing in Karmana district to commit the crime as a way to express dissatisfaction with the management.

A criminal case was initiated against them under Article 161 (extortion) of the Criminal Code, and subsequent investigative proceedings were conducted. The Navbahor district court’s Department for Combating Crimes found the perpetrators guilty of extortion and sentenced them to 13 and 12 years of imprisonment, respectively.

Furthermore, the Afrosiyob train sustained damages amounting to 260 million soums as a result of the incident, and the state has recovered that amount.