Cops pull student, lecturer from tracks of death

BENGALURU: Two persons were rescued from the jaws of death by the personnel of the Railway Protection Force at two railway stations on Saturday. The two who were saved were – a woman lecturer who walked in the direction of an approaching train and a teenager who fell on the tracks while boarding a train.

Debashmita Chattopadhyay Banerjee, Senior Divisional Security Commissioner, Railway Protection Force, Bengaluru unit, told The New Indian Express that both the lives would have been lost but for the alert action on  the part of the staff.

In the first incident, the 19-year-old college student rushed to board the Vasco Covid Special (Train no. 07339) at Yeshwanthpur railway station. “It was 2.30 pm and the train was departing from Platform 4 when he rushed to board it but slipped and fell down  on the tracks. Instant action by Head Constable S M Jalihal, assisted by the ‘Meri Saheli’ team which helps women passengers, ensured he was quickly pulled out unscathed,” Banerjee said.

The youth hails from Hubballi. In the incident on Saturday night, a woman college lecturer was found walking on the tracks at Bengaluru Cantonment station around 9 pm when a goods train was approaching. “Passengers as well as RPF personnel on Platform One shouted and asked her to move but she continued walking  oblivious to the shouts. Sensing something was amiss, cops jumped onto the tracks and pulled her away just in the nick of time,” the top cop said.

Assistant Sub Inspector B Chandrashekhara and head constable K Nazeer saved her life. “The 29-year-old woman, who worked as a Computer Science lecturer in a college in the City, confessed to the cops later that she was having major problems in her personal life and was depressed. This forced her to take the extreme step. Cops counselled her and sent her home. Her father, who later came down to take her home, thanked our staff,” Banerjee said.