A fortnight after Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s grandnephew was pushed out of a train to his death, the Chhattisgarh Railway police claimed to have caught one of his ‘‘murderers’’.SSP, Chhattisgarh Railway police, Raj Kumar Dewangan said today that on interrogation, Ramji Verma has ‘‘confessed’’ he was holding 21-year-old Manish Mishra when he fell off Chhattisgarh Express, near Kosi Kalan, and died.However, the 28-year-old Verma has reportedly told police his intention was not to push Manish out and that he was merely holding him to cool his temper down. Perhaps someone kicked Manish in the back, Verma claims.The Chhattisgarh Railway Police say they got the breakthrough when Verma, who had been hiding in Jangir Champa for several days, told some people in a drunken state that he had committed a ‘‘sin’’.Manish along with two of his friends is believed to have been thrown off the train on January 24 for objecting to the teasing of some college girls by a group of men. Police believe Verma was in this group. Verma is apparently refusing to divulge the names of the others.Police doubt Verma’s claim that the death was an accident, which doesn’t explain why Manish’s friends were thrown off. ‘‘I have spoken to SSP Mathura and SSP Agra about the arrest and requested them to send a police party to take the accused to Mathura for interrogation,’’ Dewangan said.Verma has told police he was travelling with five-six other people from Mathura when a scuffle broke out between Manish and some other daily travellers over alleged molestation a woman passenger. ‘‘I tried to pull Manish aside,’’ Verma has reportedly told police, ‘‘but he slipped out of my hands and fell on the tracks. It was an accident.’’ From Ganja Paisa village near Mathura, Verma’s family has a jewellery business.Verma has also said he had no idea of Manish’s links to the PM, and when he came to know of this from the newspapers, he went underground fearing torture from police.
