GRP men reinstated

The two were suspended by Das on December 20, 1998 for negligence of duty. Das had then said, quot;we are starting a departmental inquiry into the matter and if proved, the two officers will be dismissed.quot;

Shocked at the revocation of suspension order, Gurdayal Singh, additional director general of police Railways, said, quot;Probably Das was being transferred, therefore, he reinstated them.quot; But, he added, Das should have expedited the inquiry before he took such a decision.

Singh has called for the files into the case to study the grounds on which Das decided to reinstated the guilty officers. He said he would again suspend the two officers. quot;At least, I8217;ll surely transfer them as punishment,quot; he added.

When asked whether he would initiate any action against Das, Singh said he would certainly report the matter to the DGP after he goes through the files.

Meanwhile, J J Mewada, inspector, GRP, also wondered on how the suspension order could be revoked when preliminary inquiry had established that the two were guilty. The controversy started at around 2 a.m. on December 9, 1998 when 28-year-old Rajesh Kumar Yadav, an RPF constable with the Jodhpur Division, was going to Jodhpur from Mumbai by Saurashtra Janta Express.

According to witnesses, about four GRP constables brought down Yadav from the train and took him to their office on platform 1. Soon after that, they started beating him up, the sounds of which could be heard by people standing near the office.

Suddenly, Yadav ran out and jumped upon the tracks with the GRP constables chasing him. He was killed trying to cross a slow-moving goods train on track no. 9. The constables immediately turned back and silently went back to their office leaving Yadav8217;s body in two parts.

The body kept lying on the tracks till 6 a.m. during which at least three more trains ran over it. Although Yadav did not run with his luggage but they were found beside his body when GRP men came to pick up the body. Strangely, Prabhatsinh, the police station officer registered the case No. 111/98 as accidental death under CrPC 174.

The GRP sent the body as unclaimed8217; one to Civil Hospital for post-mortem even though the deceased8217;s identity card was found. Moreover, Yadav was also carrying a railway pass as he was on duty.

Even though the RPF personnel from Ahmedabad and Jodhpur received the body after the post-mortem, the death certificate issued by the GRP still stated that the body was unclaimed. To make matters worse, even the post-mortem report stated likewise, although the deceased8217;s name and address was added later.

Even after more than three months after the incident, the inquiries 8212; one into the death and the other departmental into negligence of duty 8212; are still in progress. Regarding the first one, Mewada said he was waiting to get the statements from Yadav8217;s father, mother and wife in Rewari Haryana even though the latter have refused to oblige them after they were denied lodging a FIR by the GRP.