Mob protests teen’s death, disrupts services

Gaurav Vohra (13) was trespassing the tracks at 11 am when he came under a train

Local residents took to the tracks on Tuesday, stopping trains from plying between 12.50 pm and 1.45 pm in protest of the Central Railway (CR) not replacing the 136-year-old Hancock Bridge with a new one, leading to the death of a 13-year-old boy owing to trespassing.

The agitation led to as many as 17 services being cancelled and 15 services delayed by 20 to 25 minutes with trains at CST halted for over an hour. The mob was reacting to the death of 13-year-old Gaurav Vohra who was trespassing the tracks at 11 am when he came under a train.

Senior police inspector Shivaji Shinde of CST GRP said, “The boy trespassed onto railway premises. It is difficult to say if the boy used the same route daily but there is a little curve at the spot and generally, the train catches speed at the spot. This year itself, three persons have died at the spot. His father Prakash Ganji Vohra claimed his body.”

The other deaths were of brothers Raju Ali (33) and Sabid Ali (32) who met with the same fate on February 9, said Mr Shinde. Gaurav was studying in the 8th standard at St. Peters School. “He had just given his exams and was returning to his house at Mazgoan. He seemed to have taken the path under where the Hancock Bridge used to stand,” said another official. Gaurav suffered injuries all over his body and a part of his body was dislodged due to the train’s impact. He was pronounced dead at J.J. Hospital.

While the Hancock bridge was demolished on January 10, the BMC is yet to raise a bridge to replace it. CR Divisional Railway Manager, Amitabh Ojha, however said that there were safety reasons behind the demolition and that commuters should use other bridges like Carnac and the other one towards Dongri instead of taking the risk. “We should remember that it might be a little inconvenience but we must use the bridges built by the railway and the BMC to be safe. You cannot risk life to save a few minutes,” he said.

BMC engineers along with CR, GRP and residents are to meet at Sandhurst Station tomorrow at 11.00 am to find a solution to the issue.