Railway employee Subodhkumar Chaudhary (30),who was admitted to the Sir Sayajirao General (SSG) Hospital last Friday with over 70 per cent burns,passed away on Wednesday. Even as the reason behind his self-immolation is still unknown,three people from the Civil Engineering Department at the Mehmedabad division have been suspended by the Western Railway. Chaudhary succumbed to his injuries at 10.30 pm. He belonged to Bihar and was a blacksmith with the Vadodara Railway division. While the eyewitnesses claimed that Chaudhary had immolated himself due to an attack of depression,his family members,who had retrieved few letters from his house,claimed that he was continuously tortured by his seniors,who demanded money every month. On Thursday,Senior Section Engineer Dinesh Gehlot,Office Superintendent M C Trivedi and Poonam Soma,all from the Mehmedabad division,were suspended. I had a talk with Chaudharys parents,who gave me the letters written by him. According to the letters,these three people had tortured him. This is a departmental action that has been taken and we have asked the Railway police to hasten the inquiry, said A K Srivastava,Divisional Railway Manager,Western Railway. On Thursday evening,Chaudharys kin took the body back to Bihar for the last rites. The Government Railway Police (GRP),Dabhoi division,are still groping in the dark as far as investigation is concerned. Chaudharys death is still mentioned in their register as accidental. There will be a fresh investigation under Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code,which empowers the official to probe the incident, said DySp S S Baranda of GRP. So far,the police have not taken any action against the three suspended persons.
