FIR registered in Bengal stampede case: Official

An FIR was lodged on Wednesday against unknown persons for the stampede at a railway overbridge in Howrah’s Santragachhi station that killed two people and injured a dozen, a government railway police (GRP) official said.

The tragedy happened around 6.15 pm on Tuesday at the busy railway junction station under the South Eastern Railway due to overcrowding on the overbridge as commuters hurriedly tried to reach their designated platforms after an announcement of two trains coming simultaneously on two adjacent tracks was made.

“An FIR has been registered under various sections of the IPC for voluntarily causing grievous hurt and death by negligence against the unknown persons,” an officer from Santragachhi GRP. The railway authorities confirmed the death of two persons in a release and said it has ordered an enquiry into the matter. “Kala Kanti Singh, 32, of East Midnapore and Taser Sardar, 61, of Murshidabad were declared dead and 12 others sustained injuries due to overcrowding and heavy rush at the Santragachhi railway station on Tuesday.

“Railway authority has ordered an enquiry in connection with the unfortunate incident,” the release said. The department had also announced a compensation package of ~ 5 lakh each to the families of the deceased, ~1 lakh for the seriously injured and ~50,000 for those with minor injuries. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee met the injured on Tuesday evening at the hospital.

She also said that the railways “negligence and callousness” caused the tragedy as she ordered an administrative probe.“Security of people should not be compromised, and railway should take proper care of the people. Railway is the lifeline of the country, it should not be derailed,” she had said.

A committee, comprising department heads of the South Eastern (SE) Railways, on Wednesday said it would bear the expenses of treatment of those who sustained injuries in the stampede on a foot over-bridge at Santragachi railway station.

At least two people lost their lives while around 12 sustained injuries in incident which took place on Tuesday.

“Out of the 12 injured persons admitted to the Howrah General Hospital last evening, five have already been released. Two persons have been shifted to RN Tagore Hospital and one person to SSKM Hospital, Kolkata. The remaining injured persons will be shifted to S.E. Railway Central Hospital, Garden Reach,” the statement from the South Eastern (SE) Railways said.

KOLKATA: Security of people should not be compromised, and railway should take proper care of the people. Railway is the lifeline of the country, it should not be derailed MAMATA BANERJEE, Chief Minister