3 Bengaluru boys run over by train

With no eye-witnesses, police investigating whether boys scaled underpass to perform stunts or take selfies on the tracks

Karnataka : Bengaluru : 03/10/2017 Prabhu Anand killed in a train accident on Bengaluru Mysuru road railway track along with his friends today

Three students from Bengaluru were run over by a train in Bidadi around 9.15 a.m. on Tuesday.

With no eyewitnesses, the police are investigating why the boys were on the track and suspect they may have been taking selfies. “They had their backs to an incoming Bengaluru-Mysuru train. Their mobile phones were found crushed on the spot,” Ramesh Bannoth, Superintendent of Police Ramanagaram said.

Two of the deceased identified as Rohit, 16, and Prabhu Anand P., 18, were enrolled in pre-university courses at the National College. The third boy, Prateek Raikar, 18, was a friend, but not from the same college.

According to the police, the three friends had planned to spend the day at Wonderla amusement park, and had left Bengaluru on two two-wheelers early on Tuesday.

According to the police, the three friends had planned to spend the day at Wonderla amusement park, and had left Bengaluru on two two-wheelers early on Tuesday.

Rohit and Prabhu had convinced their parents to give them permission to visit Wonderla as their college was re-opening next week. Rohit asked his friend Prateek to join them. Around 9.15 a.m., they stopped at an underpass in Bidadi. “We found their bikes parked there,” said the police, who suspect that they went through the underpass to get onto the tracks. There are two sets of tracks for trains heading north and south. The police suspect that the trio decided to do some stunts and capture them on their phones with the Chamundi train in the background, which was heading towards Bengaluru from Mysuru. They said the boys were on one of the tracks waiting for the train. “As they were focused on the approaching Chamundi Express, they did not see the Mysore-Solapur Gol Gumbaz Express heading towards Mysuru from Bengaluru,” said a railway police officer.

The boys were crushed under the train, their bagpacks and mobile phones mangled. “We found brand new t-shirts in the bag,” said the police. The incident came to light when a few passers-by saw the abandoned bikes near the underpass, and later found the bodies.