Hoshiyar Singh, a national-level fencing champion dies after he was thrown off a train allegedly by the Railway Police for refusing to pay a bribe of Rs. 200. The incident happened on Tuesday evening. Singh died on the spot.
The 23-year-old player was travelling with his ailing wife, Jyoti, from Kasganj to Mathura in western Uttar Pradesh, some 200 km from the national capital. Singh was travelling in a general coach while his mother, Ms. Jyoti and the couple’s 10-month-old baby, were travelling in ladies coach.
According to Ms. Jyoti, she was not keeping well and that is why she made a phone call to Singh asking him to come to the ladies coach to meet her.
When Singh entered the ladies coach the personnel of the Government Railway Police objected his entry and asked him to pay a bribe of Rs. 200. An altercation ensued after Singh refused to pay. Ms. Jyoti alleged that the GRP personnel pushed him off the running train after he refused to pay Rs. 200.
“I pleaded with the police that let me talk to my husband and do not fight with him. But they were just not listening to me. It was just Rs. 200 for which they killed him,” she told the media on Friday.
Railway Minister for State Manoj Sinha has ordered a probe into the incident.
“As per my preliminary enquiry Singh was travelling from Kasganj to Mathura and he entered ladies coach. We have ordered an investigation in the entire episode. We will take action against the people who are responsible for his death,” Mr. Sinha said.
The GRP has filed an FIR against three individuals including two GRP personnel. Ms. Jyoti, however, alleged that the charges have been made under “very weak” sections which will lead to their easy acquittal.
Hoshiyar Singh had won the bronze medal in an under-17 championship in 2005 in Kerela.
Based on complain filed by Singh’s family, the GRP has registered a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder against two Constables and a gurad of the Mathura-Kasganj passenger train.
Police refutes charge
The Superintendent of Police G.N. Khanna, however, rejected the allegation of Singh’s family that he was thrown off the running train.
“According to our investigation, he died when he slipped while trying to catch the train after filling up his water bottle. The train started before he could board it. He ran in an attempt to catch the train but he couldn’t get hold of the door handle and slipped through the gaps between platform and the tracks,” he said.
“When the two constables saw him falling through the gap, they pulled the chain to stop it. They, with the help other railway staff, pulled out Singh’s mutilated body. But due to some misunderstanding apparently, people and his family started shouting that the constables ha pushed him off the train,” he added.
In 2011, national level Volleyball player Arunima Singh was allegedly thrown off a moving train in which she lost her right leg.
