Kolkata: The 23-year-old woman passenger of Kanchanjunga Express, based on whose statements the Government Railway Police (GRP) registered a first information report (FIR) against the driver and assistant driver of the Goods train, claimed on Wednesday that she was asked to sign a blank paper while she was undergoing treatment at the hospital.
According to the FIR, Anil Kumar, the driver of the goods train, and assistant Driver Monu Kumar, who is presently admitted at a private hospital in Siliguri, have been charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
“I was not in a position to lodge any complaint. I don’t even know them (the driver and the assistant driver). Why should I lodge a complaint against them? I didn’t know anything. I was admitted to the hospital,” Chaitali Majumdar told media persons on Wednesday.
At least 10 people were killed and another 41 injured when a freight train smashed into the rear of a slow Kanchanjunga Express in north Bengal on Monday morning, with railway officials blaming human error for the grim accident that also sparked a political tussle. The driver of the goods train and the guard of the express train was among those killed in the crash.
A resident of Siliguri in north Bengal, Majumdar was a passenger of coach S-6 of Kanchanjunga Express. She suffered injuries and had to be rushed to the hospital along with other injured victims. She was released on Tuesday afternoon.
“I was feeling unwell and wanted to sleep a bit. There was a sudden jerk. I fell on the floor and sustained injuries to the chest. After almost five minutes, I managed to get out of the coach. Till that time, I had no idea as to what happened,” she said while speaking to media persons from her home.
She said that some railway officials approached her at around 8:30pm on Monday and recorded her statements on camera.
“They were not in any uniform. But I could make out they were railway officials from their conversation. They wanted to know what exactly happened. As I narrated, they recorded my statements on camera. They gave me a blank paper in which my name and address were mentioned and asked me to sign it. I signed and put the date then they left. I was not even informed that an FIR has been registered on the basis of my statement”, Majumdar said, adding that again at around 10:30pm on Monday two police personnel came and enquired.
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It was only through the media that Majumdar came to know that the GRP had registered an FIR against the loco-pilot and the assistant loco-pilot based on her statements.
According to officials, the FIR (48/24) was lodged by NJP GRP on June 17 under sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 279 (rash driving), 337 (causing hurt by the act that endangers life or safety of others) and 427 (commits mischief and thereby causes loss or damage) of IPC.
“We have received a written complaint and we have started a case,” said Silliguri superintendent of railway police S Selvamurugan.
Siliguri mayor and senior Trinamool Congress leader Goutam Deb, who visited Majumdar on Wednesday, said, “She is being unnecessarily dragged into controversy by the railways just to hide their fault.”
