A young woman triggered panic near Hyderabad on Thursday morning after she drove her car for nearly seven kilometres along a railway track, disrupting train services on the busy Hyderabad–Bengaluru route for over two hours.
The bizarre incident took place in Rangareddy district, where the woman, identified as Ravika Soni from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, reportedly turned her vehicle onto the railway tracks at a level crossing near Kondakal. Witnesses say passersby were left shocked as the car sped along the tracks between Nagulapalli and Shankarpalli.
Despite efforts by locals to intervene at Nagulapalli, the woman allegedly brandished a knife and refused to stop, continuing her dangerous drive. The situation narrowly avoided tragedy when a train approaching the same track was halted in time by an alert loco pilot who spotted the vehicle and applied emergency brakes.
The incident sparked chaos among railway personnel, who, with help from local residents, eventually managed to intercept and stop the car. Police arrived soon after and took the woman into custody.
According to authorities, Ravika Soni is a software engineer who had recently lost her job and is believed to be suffering from depression. She was sent for a medical evaluation, and her family has been informed of the incident. Police are also probing whether the act was an attempt to create social media content or “reels.”
Law enforcement officials struggled to control her during the intervention. A police investigation is underway, with railway police also launching a parallel inquiry into the serious safety breach.
Train movement on the route was severely affected, with several services halted at nearby stations. Officials emphasized that the reckless act could have led to a major disaster had it not been for the timely response of railway staff.
Preliminary findings suggest that the woman drove from Narsingi to Kondakal and, instead of crossing the railway gate, turned her vehicle directly onto the track — a move that caused widespread alarm.
