New Delhi. Due to a recent quarrel between a station master and a signal maintainer of Varanasi Junction railway station, the operation of many trains including Vande Bharat was disrupted for more than an hour. This was revealed in the railway’s investigation report. Three senior officers of the Lucknow division of Northern Railway had investigated the matter. The investigation said that this quarrel took place on May 28 at around 7:30 pm, due to which the operation of trains at Varanasi and its surrounding railway stations was disrupted for 40 minutes to one and a half hours. It is worth noting that Varanasi railway station comes under Lucknow division.
The report said that Patna Vande Bharat Express and Banaras-Buxar MEMU were standing at Vyasnagar Railway Station. Ernakulam Superfast Express, Varanasi MEMU and Patna Kashi Jan Shatabdi Express were standing at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Railway Station. All these trains pass through Varanasi Railway Station.
The debate escalated to a scuffle
According to the investigation, the fight took place when signal maintainer Shahzad tried to open the ‘reset box’ of the ‘section digital axle counter’. Station master Saroj Kumar stopped him from doing so without proper permission and information. After this, there was an argument between the two which escalated to a scuffle. Kumar alleged in his statement that Shahzad hit him with a stone due to which he started bleeding profusely from the head and fell unconscious.
Kumar said in the statement, ‘Due to excessive bleeding from the head, I felt dizzy and darkness fell before my eyes, due to which I became unable to carry out the operation. After this, I informed the senior officers about the situation.’
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Signal maintainer Shahzad defended himself
On the other hand, Shahzad, while defending himself, alleged that Kumar misbehaved with him and used abusive language. Shahzad said that he was not opening the ‘reset box’, he just wanted to write down the serial number and the name of the company but Kumar not only stopped him from doing so but also behaved rudely and asked him to leave the station master room immediately.
Shahzad said in his statement, ‘When I came out of the station master’s room, Kumar also came out and grabbed my collar and attacked my left eye. To save myself, I pushed him and we both fell down. I got hurt in the waist while Kumar got hurt in the head.’
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Two of the three officers who prepared the joint report held Shehzad responsible for indiscipline and assault which disrupted train operations, while the third officer disagreed and said the decision should be taken after listening to the “audio voice recording”.
Additional Divisional Railway Manager of Lucknow Division has constituted another team of three senior officers for investigation, which includes Senior Assistant Divisional Engineer, Assistant Divisional Signal and Telecom Engineer and Assistant Divisional Signal Operation Manager. They have been asked to submit the report as soon as possible.
Tags: Indian Railways, UP news, varanasi news
FIRST PUBLISHED : May 31, 2024, 24:00 IST