Gujarat: Passenger travelling without ticket kills train guard in Kutch

“Kishan Kumar, station master of Bhachau Railway Station alerted us at around 7 pm that a body had been spotted on railway track section between Bhimasar and Chirai. The train was halted at Bhachau and a police team rushed to the spot where the body was reportedly lying. However, by the time the police reached the spot, the guard had succumbed to his injuries,” sub-inspector of Gandhidham Railway Police Station Vasant Kumar Vansola, told The Indian Express on Friday.

Police said, “The Bhachau station master had in turn been informed by a loco pilot of a goods train that a body had been spotted on the railway track at kilometres 880/8,” said the police sub-inspector.

Police added that the guard was killed during an altercation with a passenger who was travelling without ticket. “The guard confronted a passenger who was travelling without ticket and an argument ensued. The accused thought that the guard would kill him and the guard thought that the passenger would kill him. In the altercation, the accused pushed the guard off the moving train, killing the latter on the spot,” Vansola said.

Police said that the accused had been identified as one Anuj Kushwaha (22), a native of Jaisinghnagar in Madhya Pradesh and that he had been apprehended. “After the train was halted at Bhachau, Kushwaha tried to run away. But he was chased by railway police. He resisted police efforts to nab him and also injured a couple of police constables in the process. However, in the end, he was overpowered and detained. He has confessed to killing the guard by pushing him off the moving train,” the PSI added.

Police said that they were in the process of booking Kushwaha for the murder of the train guard. Vansola said that they were awaiting post-mortem report to know the exact cause of the guard’s death.

Incidentally, Jayanti Bhanushali, the former BJP MLA was allegedly shot dead dear Samakhiyali in Bhachau taluka of Kutch district by two sharp-shooters on board Sajaji Nagari Express train which was on its way from Bhuj to Dadar on January 8 this year. Police investigation has revealed that fellow-BJP leader Chhabil Patel had allegedly given a contract to sharp-shooters of Pune to kill Bhanushali due to political rivalry. Police have so far arrested nine persons, including Patel and his son Siddharth.