New Delhi station stampede: Three senior officers including DRM replaced
A senior Railway Ministry official said that the transfers were necessary for a fair investigation into the stampede.
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The Ministry of Railways set up a two-member high-level probe committee to investigate the incident. (Express Photo by Tashi Tobgyal)Weeks after the New Delhi station stampede that killed 18 people, the Ministry of Railways on Tuesday replaced the top railway officer of the Delhi division.
Besides the Divisional Railway Manager (DRM), the Station Director of the New Delhi railway station and a Senior Divisional Commercial Manager (DCM) of the Delhi division, too, have been replaced.
According to the order, Pushpesh R Tripathi will be the new DRM of the Delhi division in the Northern Railway zone. Tripathi, an Indian Railway Service of Electrical Engineers (IRSEE) officer, was serving as Chief Electrical Loco Engineer in North Central Railway.
Outgoing DRM Sukhvinder Singh, also an IRSEE officer, has been asked to wait for orders regarding his new assignment. Singh was appointed DRM of Delhi division in July 2023 for a period of at least two years.
The Station Director of New Delhi railway station, Mahesh Yadav, has been replaced by Laxmi Kant Bansal. Bansal is currently Deputy Chief Operations Manager (Coaching) at the Railway headquarters. A Station Director is the overall in-charge of a station — responsible for its upkeep, train movement, passenger facilities and staff deployment.
Anand Mohan, Senior Divisional Commercial Manager of Passenger Services in Delhi Division, has been replaced by Nishant Narayan, Senior DCM of Freight Services.
Like Singh, Yadav and Mohan, too, have been asked to wait for orders regarding their next assignments.
A senior Railway Ministry official said that the transfers were necessary for a fair investigation into the stampede.
“They are the top officers of their respective departments. There are allegations regarding mismanagement of the crowd on their part. So it was important to transfer them. All these three officers will have to report to their respective offices of the Northern Railway till the time they are assigned a new role. The stampede investigation is progressing and a report will come out soon,” said the official, requesting anonymity.
On February 15, 18 people were killed and 15 were injured after passengers rushed to board Prayagraj-bound trains to visit the Maha Kumbh Mela. Among the dead were 11 women, three men and four children.
While many eyewitnesses alleged that the stampede took place because of a lack of crowd management at a time when a large number of people were trying to board the Prayagraj-bound trains, the Railways said the rush was not unusual for the New Delhi railway station.
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