Police probe if RPF man was negligent

Mumbai: Dadar police, which is probing Friday’s stampede at the Parel-Elphinstone Road foot overbridge (FOB) that took 23 lives, is examining whether there was any negligence on the part of a 56-year-old RPF constable seen in CCTV footage near the staircase where the incident happened in alerting local railway authorities to take preventive measures.

C. Shivmurat, the constable, who was seen on the bridge near the staircase where the incident happened from 10.26 am onwards, that is the time when the stampede had begun, told the police he had alerted a railway officer four minutes later, at 10.30 am.

Shivmurat told the police that on realising the gravity of the situation, he had called up the stationmaster of the Elphinstone Road suburban railway station on the landline number at 10.30 am to send more security personnel to deal with the crowd, and showed his mobile phone’s records to corroborate his claim, said a police officer familiar with the probe. “The stationmaster, who had been alerted by a call from a booking clerk about the stampede, said several announcements were made thereafter via the public address system to deal with the ongoing stampede,” said the officer. The police feels Shivmurat seemed unaware of the stampede underway at around 10.26 am.

After the constable’s call, the stationmaster had directed other security personnel to reach the stampede spot but they could not do so in time, said the officer. “The stationmaster had alerted his higher ups too and as a result a team of GRP had reached the spot at around 11 am,” said the officer.  

The police had earlier summoned the constable but he could not appear before them, clarifying he was a part of a separate inquiry into the stampede being conducted by the railways, said a police officer. “He has been asked to get his statement recorded on Friday,” he said.

When Shivmurat appears before the police, he will be asked about the incidents recorded in the CCTV footage, he said.