Saviours at Stations: RPF saves 83 lives on Central Railway in three years

A viral video last week put the spotlight on CR’s Railway Protection Force personnel, who have saved more than 80 lives in the last three years; here are their heroic stories in their own words

Realising that she had boarded the wrong train, a pregnant Vandana Gautam tried to get off the moving train at Kalyan station but got stuck in the gap between the coach and the platform. It’s all over, she thought. In that split second between life and death, an RPF cop raced towards her and dragged her to the platform. And, the force had pulled yet another passenger from the jaws of death.

RPF cop SR Khandekar rescues Vandana Gautam at Kalyan on October 18

In the past three years, personnel from the Railway Protection Force (RPF) of the Central Railway have saved the lives of 83 passengers, taking great risks. Their Western Railway peers have pulled 28 train travellers to safety. The Government Railway Police (GRP), too, have saved 12 lives in this period.  RPF teams take care of 80 stations of Central Railway. At times, CCTV footage showing their acts of bravery gains traction on social media, shining the light on the work done by the force though mostly they are confined to official records.

Dilip Kumar saved the life of a physically challenged traveller at Dadar station on February 3

“When I lost my balance and slipped between train and platform, I knew my time was up, but within no time I was saved by a policeman. He is like a ‘devdoot’ for me, he gave me and my baby life,” Vandana Gautam told mid-day, recounting the horror on October 18 at Kalyan station. Her husband Chandrashekhar Gautam said, “I just can’t imagine what would have happened had he [cop] had not jumped and saved my wife.”

Constable SR Khandekar, the hero, said, “When the train started moving, I saw a woman who tried to get off but got stuck between the platform and the train. There was no time to think. A split-second delay and the woman would have come under wheels. I’m happy I saved her and her baby’s life.”

GRP cop Vijay Chavan saves a woman passenger at Dadar station on June 26. Such shows of bravery at times gain traction on social media, drawing much applause from citizens

On February 3, Sunil Sonawane, a Divyang person, tried to board a train to Nashik at Dadar station. As he struggled to get in, the train had started moving. Just then, RPF constable Dilip Kumar sprinted towards him and saved his life. “Sonawane was trying to hold on to the sidebar on the door. I realised he wouldn’t be able to get in. I ran towards him and managed to pull him out,” said a visibly pleased Kumar.

His colleague constable Baijnath Patel had dashed in a similar fashion to save a senior citizen at Dadar in June 2019. Though he was successful, Patel suffered serious injuries in his hands and feet. “The train was about to leave and the senior citizen was clinging on to the door handle trying to deboard. I grabbed him, pulled him towards me and we both fell on the platform. I was injured but I was more than satisfied that he was saved.”

Members of a GRP team that walked for 4 km on tracks and through the jungle to reach an injured woman to hospital. The woman, a resident of Karla village, had fallen off the edge of a cliff and was lying by the tracks

On June 26 of this year, constable Vijay Chavan of Dadar GRP spotted a woman trying to board Howrah Express and was about to fall onto the tracks. “The train was leaving the platform. I rushed to the spot and pulled her back. She was shaken,” said Chavan, who handed over the passenger to the GRP and continued with his patrolling. Though he soon forgot about it, superiors felicitated him after being informed by his colleagues.

Woman cop saves four lives

RPF sub-inspector Kavita Sahu saved the lives of three passengers last year and one in April 2021. Last July, Dilip Mandge, who was supposed to travel in Kamayani Express along with his son, boarded Pawan Express. As soon as he realised his mistake, he tried to get off the running train. He fell down and could have been under the wheels in a second. That's when Sahu and a staffer from Maharashtra Security Force pulled him away from the train. While Sahu's hand was badly injured, she said, “More than my injury, I feel great to have saved a person's life. The happiness and satisfaction to act in time and do my duty acted like a medicine or healing force.”

Kavita Sahu, RPF sub-inspector, has saved four passengers in the past two years

Mandge, a resident of Chalisgaon, Jalgaon, said, “It was the police that saved his life. God had come for me in the form of uniformed personnel.” Ulhasnagar resident Vijay Kumar Patel, 57, was returning from Varanasi when he tried to get off the moving train at Dadar station. Vijay Kumar said he saw his entire life in a flash as he got dragged on the platform holding on to the door sidebar. He was saved by an RPF jawan. “It all happened so fast that I could not understand or think anything. I will thank the RPF jawan for the rest of my life.”

In another show of bravery, 4 GRP cops rushed to save a woman lying injured near railway tracks on the ghat at Lonavala on June 28 this year. The tribal woman had slipped from the edge of a cliff. “The woman, about 50, was semi-conscious and asking for water. We got water from a nearby village. The next train passing the area was scheduled after 4 hours. She had injured her back and we could not wait that long. We put her in a makeshift stretcher and walked to the Karjat sub-district hospital,” said constable Dnyaneshwar Gangurde. The GRP cops later shifted the woman, a resident of Karla village, to the Sassoon Hospital in Pune. Impressed by the timely intervention by PSI TN Sarkale, constables Gangurde, Tushar Turde and Mangesh Gaikwad, the railway commissioner has announced a cash reward of Rs 8,000 each to the cops.

‘Guided by inner voice’

Jitendra Srivastava, senior divisional security commissioner, Central Railway, said, “The RPF is there to help the people. At such a time, the jawan on duty hears his inner voice and immediately runs for help. Our jawans often go one step ahead and do their duty.”

An RPF cop pulls a train traveller to safety in January this year

Vineet Kharb, senior divisional security commissioner, Western Railway, said, “RPF has saved the lives of 28 people who lost their balance while de-boarding or boarding trains at different stations of Western Railway in the last three years. The jawans who save lives are called to the office of the General Manager, DRM, and honoured and rewarded.”

The GRP Mumbai have also saved 12 lives in the last three years. GRP Commissioner Qaiser Khalid said, “GRP monitors crime activities at the railway stations and controls crowd at the stations. During this time, if the life of any passenger is in danger while boarding or deboarding the train, the GRP are ready to help.”

12
No. of lives saved by GRP staff in past 3 years

28
No. of passengers saved by RPF cops at WR stations in 3 years

80
No. of stations manned RPF on CR

8K
Award in rupees to be given to the GRP cops for helping the Karla  woman

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