NAGPUR, March 27: The driver was bleeding profusely as his assistant lay sprawled on the floor of the cabin, slipping into unconsciousness. And the 2859 Down Howrah-bound Geetanjali Express thundered towards Nagpur at 95 km per hour.It was 9.40 pm on March 20, and while passengers in the train's 17 coaches were preparing to turn in for the night, the train's drivers were fighting off a brutal attack by an intruder. It was only luck and common sense on the part of the injured driver that prevented what could have been one of the most bizarre accidents in railway history.Senior engine driver Dattu Dharmaji Chaudhari and his assistant Madhukar Badri Bhagat had boarded the train at Bhusawal. It was a routine assignment: drive the Geetanjali Express up to Nagpur. A seven-hour journey with just two stops on the way, Akola and Badnera.It turned out to be a nightmare. Chaudhuri's head is fractured, his collar bone broken; Bhagat has had two surgeries. Both are now stable, recuperating at the GovernmentCollege Hospital here. The story of that night, as told by Chaudhari to The Indian Express from his hospital bed:``I have been with the Central Railway for 37 years and never have I been so traumatised. Until Badnera, things were normal. While we were crossing Timtala, a small wayside station just after Badnera, assistant driver Bhagat decided to inspect the engine. It was a routine check. As he moved towards the rear cabin, he saw a young man huddled inside.Bhagat was surprised at first. Then he caught hold of the intruder and brought him to the front cabin where I was. We just couldn't figure out how this man had got inside the rear cab, that too, when the cabin doors were closed.The intruder appeared to be frightened. We asked him how he had entered the cabin but he didn't reply. We kept asking questions and he stood there, his hands folded, suggesting we leave him alone. Neither did he identify himself nor did he tell us where he had come from. We then asked him to sit in one corner of thecabin. Nagpur wasn't far away. Then we crossed Pulgaon station. We were both busy with the engine controls when he quietly picked up a wooden block lying close to him and hit Bhagat on the head. So strong was the impact of the blow that Bhagat toppled over and slumped into a state of semi-consciousness. Blood was streaming down his head.I lunged at the intruder and he hit me on the head and the shoulder with the wooden block. While I was fighting him, I was able to shut down the engine as the train had hit an upward gradient. We were a short distance from the Kavtha railway station.As the train slowed down, the intruder jumped off and escaped in the dark. When we made an unscheduled stop at Kavtha, I reported the incident to the on-duty station master and to the railway control room at Wardha. We were both given first-aid although Bhagat continued to remain semi-conscious. On instructions from the control room, we drove the train to Wardha where we were replaced.'' Police and railway sources are stillat a loss to explain how the intruder entered the engine at Bhusawal. Although the Wardha police is investigating the attack, authorities are yet to come up with any clues. Several questions remain unanswered: Why was no cabin check made at Bhusawal? Did the intruder climb into the train at Ankola or Badnera? Railway officials claim that what happened was a freak incident but many are also worried at the prospect of an Express train hurtling in the night, its drivers being attacked by an intruder in the engine's cabin.
