Jalandhar, May 14
The Railway Police Force (RPF) today arrested three Deputy Commandants and one Assistant Commandant of Border Security Force (BSF) for indulging in a clash with a driver, an assistant driver and a guard of the Indian Railways on duty at Jalandhar cantonment railway station here late last night.
The incident occurred when the drivers and guard flagged off a special BSF train at 11:25 PM which had halted here for a two-hour break while on its way to Sambha from Gorakhpur after UP polls.
The BSF personnel said that they had been packing up their cooking material from the platform when the train was started and thus they had pulled the chain so that they could load their entire goods. The driver is said to have quickly re-started the train which was again stopped by the BSF personnel.
This enraged the BSF men who entered a verbal duel with driver Madhusudan, assistant driver Basant Singh, both from Amritsar headquarter, and guard Brij Lal from Ludhiana headquarter. The issue boiled up and the deputy commandants and assistant commandant allegedly smashed them. The railway men were immediately taken to the hospital where they were treated for some minor injuries.
Tension brewed up as BSF DIG R.P. Singh came to the station in the wee hours today to enquire into the matter. The railway employees too got together in the a little later demanding that the BSF men be arrested for an assault on their colleagues or else they would strike work.
Inspector Rakesh Kumar of the RPF said that a case under section 145 and 146 of the Indian Railways Act had been registered against Nitesh Dhiman, assistant commandant, Yogendra Pal, Run Singh and Mehru Din Khan, all three deputy commandants with the BSF.
The foursome was also booked under section 356 of the IPC on the complaint of the guard alleging that his mobile had been snatched by them. The BSF men refused to talk to the media as they said that they were not authorised to do so. The DIG also denied giving any comments on the matter. Apprehending that the train may be halted for a longer time, the BSF had arranged for six to seven trucks so that some men and a part of the luggage could move on via road.
While the goods had already been loaded in the trucks, it was again shifted to train as the railway men had agreed to resume duty. The BSF train got delayed by several hours but the schedule of other trains remained unaffected.
The BSF co-passengers, however, were much annoyed with the treatment mete out by the railways personnel as they said that the journey which would have taken less than two days had not even been accomplished in five days. Fuming over the cutting of water supply in the train, they said that they were terribly upset and were longing to be back to their destination at the earliest. They added that the duty in UP polls proved to be too long and tiring and the prolonged journey had further resulted in fatigue.
