Railway unions stop local trains at CSMT to oppose FIR against engineers in accident case
Mumbai (PTI): Unions representing Central Railway’s employees stopped suburban local train operations at the busy Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus for nearly an hour on Thursday evening to oppose the FIR against engineers in the Mumbra accident case.
Train services resumed after senior officials assured the protesters they would pursue the matter with the state authorities.
Central Railway’s Chief Public Relations Officer Swapnil Nila told PTI that the employees protesting at CSMT, where daily passenger footfall touches several lakhs, did not allow motormen and train managers to operate trains between 5.50 pm and 6.45 pm.
The protesters were pacified and local train services resumed after about an hour, said Nila.
The Government Railway Police have registered an FIR against two railway engineers in the June 9 Mumbra train accident, which claimed five lives.
The GRP action prompted National Railway Mazdoor Union and Central Railway Mazdoor Union to stage the protest on Thursday, demanding the FIR be revoked.
The NRMU staged a protest outside the Divisional Railway Manager's office at CSMT after a march, while CRMS staged protest in the suburban concourse of the busy station, just outside the motormen and train managers or guards lobby.
The employees participating in the protest shouted slogans against the police and warned of action if the case is not withdrawn.
Many daily wage labours of railway contractors also participated in the protest, several of them wearing reflective safety jackets.
Non availability of suburban services during evening peak hours led to heavy rush on both mainline and harbour corridors of Central Railway.
Commuters filled the CSMT premises as they waited for train services to resume. Major stations including Kurla, Ghatkopar, Dadar, Thane, and Vashi witnessed heavy rush of passengers.
Several passengers travelled onboard outstation trains due to heavy rush and disrupted suburban services. Some rushed to the Metro-3 station in the vicinity.
“A friend from the UK is here, and we wanted to board a local train. We came out of the CSMT after waiting for trains to start for nearly 20 minutes,” said Thane resident Anshuman R.
Passenger activists strongly condemned the stoppage of suburban trains.
They accused railway authorities of holding passengers to ransom to pressure the GRP into scrapping the FIR.
The probe into the June 9 Mumbra train accident, which claimed five lives, has found that railway staffers replaced a piece of track four days prior to it, but left it unwelded, which resulted in the tragedy.
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Bengaluru: Four arrested for housebreaking, threats, extortion; fake PSI among accused
Bengaluru: Vidyaranyapura police have arrested four persons, including a man posing as a Police Sub-Inspector (PSI), for allegedly breaking into a house, threatening the occupants, and extorting money while wearing police uniforms.
The arrested accused have been identified as Mallikarjuna, Pramod, Vinay, and Hrithik.
Police said the accused had hatched a plan to pose as police personnel, conduct fake raids, and extort money from residents by intimidation.
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According to the police, Mallikarjuna had failed the PSI examination twice and later falsely projected himself as a PSI. He allegedly conducted photo shoots in his hometown, Siraguppa, wearing a police uniform, baton, cap, and shoes, claiming to be serving as a PSI in Bengaluru.
On December 7, the four accused allegedly went to the house of Naveen in the Vidyaranyapura limits, threatened him with a stick and an iron rod, and claimed they had information that he was selling ganja. Under the pretext of searching, they allegedly extorted ₹87,000 through bank transfer, ₹53,000 in cash kept in the house, and ₹2,000 from his wallet.
Following Naveen’s complaint, Vidyaranyapura police registered a case and launched an operation, leading to the arrest of all four accused. Police have seized ₹45,000 in cash and the car used to commit the crime.
Further investigation is underway.
