Three youths jump off train, 2 die

Tribune News Service

Mansa, November 17

Two youths lost their lives and another was seriously injured when the trio jumped off a moving train at Budhlada in the district this afternoon. They were under the influence of drugs and probably jumped to save themselves from getting caught by the Government Railway Police.

Baagi Singh of Beer village, Deepu Singh of Ghudda village and Gurpreet Singh of Sivian, all in Bathinda district, boarded the Howrah-Sriganganagar Udyan Abha Toofan Express from Jakhal. As it reached Dariyapur near Budhlada, the trio jumped off.

While Baagi and Deepu died on the spot, Gurpreet suffered severe head injuries and was rushed to Budhlada hospital from where he was referred to the Mansa Civil Hospital.

In his statement, Gurpreet claimed that he and his friends were under the influence of drugs and got scared of getting caught after they saw three GRP personnel in plain clothes.

GRP police station incharge Harjinder Singh refuted the allegation and claimed that the trio must be “hallucinating”. “The injured is claiming that they got scared of the GRP personnel who boarded the train from Bareta. Interestingly, the train doesn’t halt at Bareta station. They were either heavily intoxicated and didn’t realise the consequences of their action or there was some other reason which he is not disclosing. We are looking into the details and have initiated inquest proceedings into the case,” he said.

He added that the GRP personnel recovered habit-forming substances from the place where the trio had fallen after jumping off the train.