Amritsar Train Tragedy: This is what the driver has to say about the incident

On Oct 22, 2018

AMRITSAR: NP NEWS 24 ONLINE –“I saw a crowd around the track…I immediately applied the emergency brakes while continuously blowing the horn. Still, some people came under it. The train was about to stop when people started pelting stones, which is why I started the train for passengers’ safety,” the DMU train’s driver which killed 62 people on the night of Dusshera in Amritsar, Arvind Kumar said.

Claiming his innocence in the horrific tragedy in Amritsar on Friday, the driver of the ‘killer’ train has given a written statement in his defense.

Arvind Kumar, who was driving the train which crushed people watching the burning of Ravana effigy, claimed that he had honked at the crowd from 300 meters but people could not hear it over the loud sounds of the crackers.

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Kumar claimed that when the train slowed down to stop, the gathered crowd started pelting stones on the train. “With an eye on the safety of the passengers of the train I had to keep driving and take the train to ASR station (Amritsar).” He said he had informed his superiors about the situation immediately.

On the other hand, Shailender Singh Shally, Councillor, Ward Number 46, Amritsar said,” I was at the spot. Leave alone stopping, the train did not even slow down. It seemed as if the driver wanted to kill us all. The train passed us in a matter of seconds. Is it logically possible for us to pelt stones at the train when so many people were dead and injured around us? Is it possible for us to get our bearings after such an incident and pelt stones at a speeding train? The driver is lying.”

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Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu Sunday targeted the Indian Railways, raising several questions about its functioning and asked how a “clean chit” was given to the loco-pilot of the train, which mowed down at least 59 people watching a Dussehra event in Amritsar, in “one day”.