RAILWAY SAMACHAR

Rlys ignores security : Nitish

PATNA : The overbridge collapse was the result of lack of security measures in the railways, chief minister Nitish Kumar said while expressing sorrow over the deaths. "The security system in railways has gone haywire during the last five years," Nitish said and accused railway minister Lalu Prasad of publicising only the turnaround and giving scant attention to safety. The situation, he said, has come to such a pass that IRCON did not apply safety measures while constructing the overbridge. "What a pitythat a company like IRCON cannot hold a girder," he said.

GRP turns moral police

GAYA : The Supreme Court's disapproval of handcuffing notwithstanding, government railway police (GRP) personnel not only handcuffed alovebird on Saturday and Sunday but also played the dreaded "RamSainiks" of sorts by making him and his girlfriend tie the knot lateSunday evening. Trouble first struck 18-year-old Sweetie of neighbouring Aurangabad district's Rafiganj when railway cops on Saturday morning picked herup from a platform of the Gaya station. She was then waiting for her boyfriend Sunny, scheduled to travel from Patna to meet her on Valentine's Day. Like her sweetheart, he too ended up in the Gaya GRP's lock up on his arrival. It was at a marriage ceremony that the boy, whose father runs a jewellery shop in Patna, met the girl for the first time a few months back. They had been dating each other since then. Both belonged to different castes. Interestingly, the lovebirds were not charged with any criminal offence. Yet, they were detained for two whole days during which the Gaya GRP spent all its energy in ensuring that they tied the knot. The ceremony had to be delayed as the girl turned 18 only on Sunday,a day after Valentine's Day. Parents of the boy and the girl were called from Patna and Rafiganj respectively to bless the couple who took the marriage vows at the Vishnupad Temple late on Sunday evening. Patna SP (railway) D N Gupta said he was not aware of the incident. "If it's true, it's gross indiscretion on the part of the policemen involved," he said and added he would get the matter probed and ensure that the cops, if guilty, did not go unpunished.

RRB officials grilled for paper leak

JAIPUR : A day after a racket involved in leaking the examination paper of an RRB exam was busted here, the special operations group(SOG) of state police seized documents from the RRB office in Ajmerand detained three officials. The officials were taken to the anti-corruption bureau (ACB) office for questioning, sources said. On Monday, RRB secretary R K Sharma indicated that some persons havebeen identified who could have leaked the secrets about the question paper. "We have sent a report to our headquarters in Delhi seeking an FIR against certain people," Sharma told 'Railway Samachar'. A decision in this regard will be taken by the headquarters only, he said. He, however, refused to comment on whether these persons belonged to the board. Meanwhile, the SOG produced 105 accused, including the brokers andthe applicants, in a local court on Monday afternoon. While 11 brokers were sent to police custody till February 24, the rest 94, all candidates, were sent to judicial custody. According to sources, a team from SOG is trying to get more details as things like where the paper was to be printed was known only to avery few officials including the chairman. Sources said that a team of SOG came to the board office and seized documents related to the assistant station master examination. "Theyalso made a list of persons who are responsible for maintaining secrecy about the question paper," said a source. The investigation team recorded the statement of officials at the district ACB officein Ajmer. Meanwhile, SOG sources confirmed that they detained three employees of the board. Meanwhile, sources in UP's Special Task Force said the master mind behind the railway recruitment racket — Bedi Ram and Sanjay Kumar —both ex-railway officials, are `specialists' in leaking question papers of railway recruitment board examinations throughout northern India. RRB Ajmer paper leak was their third attempt, the previous being the busted ones in Lucknow (2006) and Allahabad (2008). Bedi was a chief travelling ticket examiner (CTTE) with north-eastern railway (NER). He was arrested for the first time on February 26, 2006 for his alleged role in Lucknow paper leak and second time onDecember 14, 2008. The other man, Sanjay Kumar, was an electrical engineer with railways and was also instrumental in paper leak cases.

BIHAR : 3 die as rlys' bridge girder falls

MUZAFFARPUR : A woman, a girl child and an old man were killed and four others injured, one of them seriously, when a 40-tonne girder ofa railway overbridge, under construction for four years, fell 15 feet below on the ground near Amgola railway level crossing here around 11.15 am on Monday. While two of the deceased were identified as Rita Kumari (30) and her daughter Khushboo (4), the identity of the old man riding a bicycleis yet to be ascertained. Rita's father Dashrath Singh said his son-in-law Ashok Kumar left his Atardah house on a motorcycle along with wife and daughter to go to Kalyani. But destiny willed otherwise. Two injured persons, Ramchandra Singh of Khanpur Berai village and Jitendra Kumar of Orient Club locality were admitted to the sadar hospital while Rita's husband Ashok, with his hands and legs badly smashed, was referred to PMCH at Patna. Another injured person, a construction worker who fell on the ground along with the girder, hasbeen admitted to a private nursing home. Eye witnesses said a worker of IRCON's sub-contractor was trying todrill a hole in the 50-ft-long concrete girder with a drilling machine when it suddenly fell on the ground with a thud. The girderhad been placed between the obverbridge's two pillars only a coupleof days back.Muzaffarpur DM Vipin Kumar said the government has sanctioned acompensation of Rs 1 lakh each to the bereaved families and a sum ofRs 50,000 each from the CM Relief Fund. IRCON, the agency engaged inthe construction of overbridge, has agreed to give Rs 2 lakh to eachvictim's family.A magisterial inquiry has been ordered, and an FIR lodged againstIRCON.An angry mob, meanwhile, set afire the construction agency's gensetand blocked the movement of trains at the Amgola crossing, disruptingtrain services between Muzaffarpur and Samastipur for hours. Localssaid the crossing was closed at the time of the incident. Had itremained open, the number of casualties would have been higher.No IRCON staff could be traced to give the firm's version.