Three men died after being hit by trains during a major Central Railway disruption in Mumbai, with their families alleging that stranded passengers were forced to leave trains or move through railway premises when suburban services stalled. Police have registered separate accidental-death cases and are investigating the circumstances behind the fatalities.
Two of the victims, Rahul Rajbhar, 22, and Kharbhan Rajbhar, 35, were hit by a Kalyan–CSMT local at about 7.55pm between Ghatkopar and Vikhroli on Monday. The men, distant relatives and friends from Mau in Uttar Pradesh, had been working as stack-parking welders in Mumbai and were reportedly travelling towards Thane after work.
Their relatives disputed the initial account that the men had illegally crossed the tracks. They said a train may have remained stationary for a long period during the disruption, prompting the two men to alight and walk along the tracks. Police said there was also a possibility that they had left the train to exit railway premises and continue their journey by road.
The disruption began after a fire in a relay room near Kanjurmarg brought the signalling system to a halt. Central Railway suburban services were severely affected for about nine hours, while trains continued to run 30 to 40 minutes late on affected routes even after operations were restored. Thousands of commuters were stranded in stationary trains for 70 to 90 minutes, and some passengers were reported to have walked along the tracks as services operated intermittently on adjoining lines.
The families are seeking CCTV footage and relevant reports to establish what happened. Police said a motorman alerted them after the bodies were found and that the motorman’s statement would be recorded. Investigators are also looking for witnesses who may have seen the two men before the collision.
Kharbhan is survived by his widow and four children in his hometown. His relatives said they were collecting the documents required to file a compensation claim. The bodies were handed over to the families on Tuesday evening and taken to Uttar Pradesh by hearse, a journey of more than 1,600 kilometres expected to take about 30 hours.
In a separate incident during the same disruption, 21-year-old Sahil Thete was killed after being hit by a train at Bhandup station. His family said he had travelled to Thane for a coaching class and was attempting to return to his home in Kanjurmarg after railway services became irregular. Police said he was crossing from platform 4 to platform 2 on the tracks when a fast train hit him near platform 3.
Thete was in the final year of a Bachelor of Commerce course and helped his parents, who sell flowers and garlands, according to a relative. His family has sought assistance for his parents and employment support for one of his sisters. Kurla Government Railway Police are probing all three deaths and the sequence of events that preceded them.
