One killed as Tatanagar-Ernakulam Express train catches fire in Andhra Pradesh
Visakhapatnam (PTI): One person was killed after two compartments of the Tatanagar-Ernakulam Express caught fire at Yalamanchili, about 66 km from here, police said on Monday.
The police received information about the fire at 12:45 am.
A police official told reporters that there were 82 passengers in one of the affected coaches and 76 in another when the train caught fire.
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"Unfortunately, a dead body was found in the B1 coach," the official added.
The deceased was identified as Chandrsekhar Sundaram.
The two damaged coaches were detached from the train, which proceeded towards Ernakulam. The passengers in the damaged coaches will be sent to their destinations.
Two forensic teams are working to ascertain the cause of the fire, the police official said.
The South Central Railway, in a statement, said B1 and M2 coaches of the train (No.18189) caught fire and the Railway staff swiftly acted and immediately informed the Fire brigade.
The Railway officials also swung into action and assisted passengers in deboarding the train.
The fire brigade reached the spot and extinguished the fire.
As a precaution, both the affected coaches and an additional AC III Tier Coach (M1) were detached.
The remaining coaches are currently being moved to Samalkot Railway Station, where three empty replacement coaches will be attached to the formation.
Meanwhile, passengers from the affected coaches are being shifted to Samalkot station by arranging bus services.
The Commissioner of Railway Safety and other senior officials of SCR have rushed to the site, alongside forensic and medical teams to determine the cause of the fire and assess any casualties.
All necessary precautions in coordination with local administration are being taken, even as the SCR has set up Helpline Numbers to provide assistance and train running information, the release added.
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Trouble ‘Miyas’ everywhere only then they will leave Assam: Himanta Biswa Sarma
Says “Himanta Biswa Sarma, BJP are openly against them, we are saying it openly
New Delhi: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said that four to five lakh “Miya voters” would be removed from the electoral rolls in the state once the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists is carried out. He also made a series of controversial remarks openly targeting the Miya community, a term commonly used in Assam in a derogatory sense to refer to Bengali-speaking Muslims.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an official programme in Digboi in Tinsukia district, Sarma said it was his responsibility to create difficulties for the Miya community and claimed that both he and the BJP were “directly against Miyas”.
“Four to five lakh Miya votes will have to be deleted in Assam when the SIR happens,” Sarma said, adding that such voters “should ideally not be allowed to vote in Assam, but in Bangladesh”. He asserted that the government was ensuring that they would not be able to vote in the state.
The chief minister was responding to questions about notices issued to thousands of Bengali-speaking Muslims during the claims and objections phase of the ongoing Special Revision (SR) of electoral rolls in Assam. While the Election Commission is conducting SIR exercises in 12 states and Union Territories, Assam is currently undergoing an SR, which is usually meant for routine updates.
Calling the current SR “preliminary”, Sarma said that a full-fledged SIR in Assam would lead to large-scale deletion of Miya voters. He said he was unconcerned about criticism from opposition parties over the issue.
“Let the Congress abuse me as much as they want. My job is to make the Miya people suffer,” Sarma said. He claimed that complaints filed against members of the community were done on his instructions and that he had encouraged BJP workers to keep filing complaints.
“I have told people wherever possible they should fill Form 7 so that they have to run around a little and are troubled,” he said, adding that such actions were meant to send a message that “the Assamese people are still living”.
In remarks that drew further outrage, Sarma urged people to trouble members of the Miya community in everyday life, claiming that “only if they face troubles will they leave Assam”. He also accused the media of sympathising with the community and warned journalists against such coverage.
“So you all should also trouble, and you should not do news that sympathise with them. There will be love jihad in your own house.” He said.
The comments triggered reactions from opposition leaders. Raijor Dal president and MLA Akhil Gogoi said the people of Assam had not elected Sarma to keep one community under constant pressure. Congress leader Aman Wadud accused the chief minister of rendering the Constitution meaningless in the state, saying his remarks showed a complete disregard for constitutional values.
According to the draft electoral rolls published on December 27, Assam currently has 2.51 crore voters. Election officials said 4.78 lakh names were marked as deceased, 5.23 lakh as having shifted, and 53,619 duplicate entries were removed during the revision process. Authorities also claimed that verification had been completed for over 61 lakh households.
On January 25, six opposition parties the Congress, Raijor Dal, Assam Jatiya Parishad, CPI, CPI(M) and CPI(M-L) submitted a memorandum to the state’s chief electoral officer. They alleged widespread legal violations, political interference and selective targeting of genuine voters during the SR exercise, describing it as arbitrary, unlawful and unconstitutional.
