RANCHI: A day after the stampede at New Delhi Railway Station which claimed 18 lives, chaos ensued at Ranchi railway station on Sunday as a huge crowd of passengers gathered to board trains bound for UP and Delhi.
According to the eyewitnesses, when 12817 Jharkhand Swarna Jayanti Express reached Ranchi station, it was already full of passengers.
Ticketless passengers had boarded the train and locked the doors from inside. Those who were waiting to travel in the train with tickets were seen pleading with them to open the doors.
The RPF jawans tried to enter the bogies but did not succeed.
Although some passengers with genuine tickets managed to enter some bogies, more than 60 passengers could not catch the train.
A group of 18 women did not board the train due to fear of suffocation.
Meanwhile, five women in the group fainted due to suffocation in the crowd. Others in the group separated them from the crowd and took them to a safe place.
Many passengers boarded the train but their family members were left behind at the station.
According to senior railway officials, proper monitoring is being done and RPF have been deputed at all railway stations. The commercial department has been asked to issue tickets as per the capacity of the trains.
Referring to the rush at Ranchi railway station, they said that due to Sunday many devotees were travelling Kumbh, due to which there was a rush but it was under control.
Ranchi Railway Division DRM Jasmit Singh Bindra said that there is a lot of crowd in the trains due to Kumbh. Due to the excessive crowd in the Swarn Jayanti train, some passengers missed the train, whose tickets will be refunded.
According to DRM, they have written to the South-East Railway Headquarters and sought permission to run the Kumbh Special train on 19 February. Instructions have been given to the RPF Commandant to provide convenience to the passengers at the station, he said.
Meanwhile, following the tragic stampede at New Delhi railway Station on Saturday, Director General of Police (DGP) Anurag Gupta has called a meeting with senior police and railway officials to discuss the safety measures to control and safeguard the crowd.
According to sources in the police headquarters, the meeting was convened on Monday evening through video conferencing with the SSPs of Ranchi, Jamshedpur and Dhanbad.
Preparations for security arrangements at major railway stations was discussed during the meeting keeping in mind the increasing number of passengers during the Kumbh Mela.
The officials further added that the deployment of officers for comprehensive ticket checking, crowd management and measures to work together with railway officials and RPF to avoid stampede was also reviewed during the meeting.
