With the Railways defending its signal system, claiming it was “foolproof” and highly unlikely that any glitch in the system led to the collision near Mathura, the spotlight is now on an escape by an undertrial on board the Mewar Express that may have been the trigger for the chain of events.

The Delhi-bound Mewar Express, before it was hit by the Goa Express which was also headed for Delhi, had halted on the tracks near Mathura because of chain-pulling, according to Mathura SSP B D Paulson. “It is yet to be established who pulled the chain to stop the train. But three constables from Kota came to my office around 3 pm with a request to lodge an FIR on the escape of a criminal they were escorting to Delhi. They were travelling by the Mewar Express. The Highway police station has been asked to lodge an FIR,” Paulson said.

The constables were escorting one Sajid alias Munna who had to be produced in a Tis Hazari court in Delhi. They told the SSP that Sajid escaped “in the confusion after the accident”. On why it took them so long to report the escape, the constables said they had gone to the police station immediately but the entire staff was busy at the accident site.

But the constables were unable to explain how Sajid, who was handcuffed and tied with a rope, managed to free himself and bolt. Kota IG Rajiv Dasot said constables Virendra Singh, Ashok and Bahadur Singh have been placed under suspension for negligence. All three are from the Kota city police lines. “We will question them when they get back,” Dasot said.

... contd.