A potential tragedy was averted at Vikhroli railway station after a 23-year-old man entered the tracks and threatened to stop an approaching Mumbai local train following an altercation inside a platform washroom on Friday morning, according to the Railway Protection Force and Government Railway Police.
The incident took place around 10.15am near platforms 2 and 3. The man, identified as Mukesh Panchal, who works as a hamal, had quarrelled with 29-year-old Hrishikesh Vasant Potekar, a resident of Kalyan, inside the washroom before moving onto the tracks, the report said.
A video of the incident showed Potekar pulling Panchal away as a local train approached. The intervention, along with the response from railway personnel, housekeeping staff and passengers, helped bring Panchal to safety before the train reached the spot.
The RPF said a pointman alerted on-duty personnel about the altercation. Police havaldar Rathod and constable Borase then reached the location, where Panchal had entered the tracks after allegedly threatening to stop a train. RPF personnel and others assisted in removing him from the railway line.
The incident highlights the immediate safety risks created when passengers enter active railway tracks, particularly at a busy suburban station where trains continue to operate through multiple platforms. The account also shows how railway staff, support workers and fellow passengers responded before the situation escalated into a possible collision.
The GRP said Panchal frequently got into arguments with passengers and stall operators and had allegedly threatened to stop trains by entering the tracks. The supplied report does not state whether any criminal case was registered in connection with Friday’s incident.
Both men were taken to the Vikhroli railway police chowky and advised to approach the Kurla GRP to lodge a complaint. However, neither man wished to file a complaint, either orally or in writing, according to the RPF. They subsequently apologised to each other and left.
The immediate police response concluded without a complaint from either party, while the RPF and GRP accounts recorded the intervention that prevented the altercation from becoming a serious railway safety incident.
