Coordination gap between two pointsmen caused one's death in Bihar, says rail probe

Representational image.

A lack of coordination between two rail employees during a shunting operation led to one of them getting stuck in the buffers of the engine and a power car, causing his death in the Barauni Junction of Bihar on Saturday, a preliminary inquiry has found. The joint report, signed by five rail officials, said the two pointsmen -- Amar Kumar and Mohd Suleman -- failed to properly coordinate with each other due to which Suleman gave the wrong signal to the loco driver, resulting in 25-year-old Kumar's death.

A clip of the body stuck between the buffers has become widely circulated on social media. A pointsman's job is to detach train engines from coaches. The preliminary report has held Suleman responsible for the incident. However, Suleman has defended himself in his written submission and held the loco driver responsible for the accident.

Suleman said he and Kumar disconnected the engine and the power car by detaching the centre buffer coupler -- a device that connects the engine with a coach. He further said that the engine moved a bit away from the power car and, when Kumar went to close the buffer coupler, the driver reversed the engine without any hand signal from him (Suleman).

"Due to this, Amar (Kumar) got sandwiched between the two buffers," Suleman said. A buffer is a shock-absorbing device on both ends of a train's engine and coaches, designed to reduce the impact of collisions between bogies. According to the joint report, the 15204 Lucknow-Barauni Express terminated at Barauni Junction at 8:10 am and the station master assigned the task of detaching the engine from the power car and the rest of the train to Kumar and Suleman.

"While detaching the engine and the power car, pointsman Kumar got stuck between the two and died on the spot," the report said. After reviewing footage from CCTV cameras installed at the station, they found that the accident occurred around 8:29 am. Kumar's body was retrieved after separating the engine and the power car at 10:15 am and sent for post-mortem. According to rail officials, another senior-level inquiry had also been ordered.

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