Rod or pole kills two on bursting train

Two persons hanging out of an overcrowded local train apparently crashed into a defunct transformer pole at rush hour this morning and died instantly.

Kallol Sarkar and Rajkumar Mahato, who were travelling on the Down Naihati-Sealdah local, hit the pole between Belgharia and Dum Dum around 10am, but it is not clear how exactly the accident happened.

A witness on the train said an iron rod near the door that the duo — and several others — were holding on to suddenly came unstuck, flinging them out. Others blamed the deaths on the transformer pole that is reportedly closer to the rail tracks than it should ideally be.

The local people, who put up a blockade after the crash, said they had repeatedly requested the railways to uproot the pole as it was closer to the centre of the rail track than the minimum permissible 2.35 metres. But their pleas had fallen on deaf ears.

“These posts have not been in use for several years and we have sent people on deputation several times,” said Ranjit Sarkar, the leader of the local hawkers’ body.

The protesters refused to let police take away the bodies till the pole was removed, around 4pm.

One of the four others who had fallen out of the train at the same time as Mahato and Sarkar but survived recounted what he had seen as he lay on a trolley in NRS Medical College and Hospital.

Sumit Ranjan Chakraborty said eight to 10 persons had been jostling for space near the train door. “Suddenly, the vertical rod we were holding on to came loose and I lost my grip.

“I remember that two persons standing in front of me fell with a thud after they crashed into the pole. I am lucky I survived,” he said, thankful he had got away with a fractured left thigh bone.

The railways have, however, trashed his claim. “Our preliminary inquiry suggests that no rod had come loose,” an official said.

The Eastern Railway has ordered a probe but declined comment on whether the train was adequately maintained. “Exemplary punishment will be given if any one is found guilty of negligence,” an official said.

Hitesh Kumar, who was Mahato’s roommate in the Belgharia mess he stayed in, said they had gone to the station together. “But I could not board the train as it was too crowded.”

Mahato, who was from Jharkhand, was on his way to a Salt Lake training institute where he had enrolled for a course on stock markets six months ago. Sarkar was on his way to work.

The Calcutta Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) has taken up a scheme to build a 12-km road from Garia to Baruipur as part of the plan to shift the district headquarters of South 24-Parganas.

The four-lane road, which will link the EM Bypass to the proposed site of the district headquarters in Baruipur, will be laid in two phases. The headquarters is now based in Alipore.

In the first phase, the road will extend from Garia to Kamalgazi, and in the next phase up to Baruipur.

Land acquisition and alignment work for the road are complete. Local CPM parliamentarian Sujan Chakraborty, the CPM legislator from Baruipur, Rahul Ghosh, and senior officials of the CMDA surveyed the area before the road plan was finalised.

The people’s representatives and the CMDA officials also decided to build six bridges across Tolly’s Nullah.

The project cost for the road has been estimated at Rs 54 crore, which will be provided by the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission Scheme under its Ganga Action Plan.

“The new road will be vital after the headquarters is shifted to Baruipur,” said Chakraborty.

The shift will see a spurt in construction in the small district town. “A healthcare hub and a technical college are among the immediate priorities. Once these projects and many more come up, traffic to and from Baruipur will increase manifold. The road has been planned keeping this in mind,” Chakraborty added.

The thoroughfare will run on both sides of Tolly’s Nullah. The stretches along the banks will be beautified.

“We also have plans to construct at least six bridges across Tolly’s Nullah in phases,” he added.

The state environment department and the Union ministry of environment and forests have sanctioned Rs 24 crore for building the bridges and the beautification project.

Chunar De, the chief engineer of the CMDA’s Ganga Action Plan sector, said: “We hope to finish work before the monsoon if everything goes according to plan.”

P.B.Nag, the general secretary of Development Employees Joint Action Committee, said the project had been delayed by a year because of land acquisition problems.

The tribals’ agitation in West Midnapore today spread to neighbouring Bankura with armed villagers blocking the highway connecting the two districts in Maoist-infested Sarenga.

The Santhal organisation Bharat Jakat Majhi Marwa placed trees on the road to express solidarity with the agitation against alleged police atrocities in Lalgarh, 45km away.

Leading a rally at Khoer Pahari, Sibaprasad Murmu alleged that the police often arrest innocent villagers after branding them Maoists. “So we have decided to paralyse the administration here, as in Lalgarh.”

Among other things, the Bankura protesters wanted all night raids to stop.

Sushil Soren of Tanti Danga said the agitation would be intensified from Friday if the Lalgarh stalemate was not resolved.

A large police contingent stood watching till 2pm fearing a backlash if force was applied to remove the blockades.

Talks yielded results around 3pm. Five hours after the blockades were put up, they were lifted from Nekra Pahari and Tanti Danga. But the road continued to be blocked at Khoer Pahari and Karbhanga.

“We told the villagers that the problem (in Lalgarh) was not related to Bankura and they should not disturb peace here. We also promised to look into their allegations like police high-handedness and arrest of innocent people. However, night patrolling cannot stop as the area is a known Maoist belt,” said superintendent of police Vishal Garg.

In the evening, three CPM leaders who had gone to persuade the tribals to withdraw the blockades were beaten up.

In another part of Bankura, armed tribals marched to the office of the Mejia block development officer and submitted a charter of demands similar to that in Sarenga.

The People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities, which is leading the protests in Lalgarh, today invited the administration for talks on November 21 but set conditions. The meeting has to take place at Dalilpur and the West Midnapore superintendent of police must attend it.

The committee wants the SP to hold his ears and apologise for the police raids and detentions since the landmine blast on November 2.

“We will step up our movement in other parts of the district if the SP doesn’t come for the talks,” committee secretary Sidhu Soren said.

The district police, however, could not assure the tribal leaders about the SP’s presence. “They (the police) wanted to know what was the guarantee of his security in Dalilpur. We told them it was their headache. They told us a group of 25 top Maoists were camping in Dalilpur,” said Soren.

SP Rajesh Kumar Singh said: “It won’t be a wise decision to go there. We want to avoid untoward incidents. They can hold talks in any place like the Lalgarh police station, the block office or the local school.”

However, home secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti said in Midnapore town that the government was ready to hold talks anywhere, “be it Midnapore, Jhargram or Lalgarh”.

In Midnapore town today with the state police chief, Chakrabarti met representatives of six Santhal organisations led by the Majhi Marwa.

“Many of the demands are just but it is also important to find out who all are exploiting the grievances. We will not tolerate terrorism in the name of a movement,” the home secretary said after the meeting.

The committee branded the six Santhal outfits that helped the administration remove blockades from Jhargram yesterday and attended today’s peace talks traitors. “They betrayed us by helping the administration,” said Sidhu.