Bengaluru: Selfie menace, here is new low!

BENGALURU: A businessman and his female friend had a narrow escape when their jeep stopped right on the railway track and a train crashed into their vehicle just after they got down and ran away to save their lives.

But some villagers alleged that the couple had parked the jeep on the track on purpose and were clicking selfies when the train came trundling in. Fortunately for over 700 passengers of Mangala Express, which was heading from Mysuru to Yeshwanthpur, the train did not derail.

The incident took place at Basavanapura between Ramanagar and Bidadi around 7.30 am on Saturday. The accused driver, Sandeep, aged around 30 and a resident of Adityanagar who runs a business in Kothanur, was arrested by the Railway Protection Force (RPF).

Sandeep and Pratibha were heading to Mysuru to attend a function when he turned his jeep (MYZ-9379) towards the railway track, about 2 km from the Ramanagar railway station. He reportedly told the police that he was trying to cross the railway track and reach a rocky area, where he wanted to take photos.

“But, he claimed, the gear developed a snag and he could not move the jeep out of the tracks. On seeing a train arriving, they jumped out of the jeep and ran to save their lives. Seconds later, Mangala Express crashed into the jeep,” an RPF official said.

The couple immediately went to the Ramanagar police station and reported the incident. A police team, along with Government Railway Police and RPF officials, rushed to the spot. The accident delayed the train for nearly 50 minutes, before it headed towards Bengaluru.

“The loco pilots said that they had just left Ramanagar Railway Station and the train was at 50 kmph when they noticed the jeep on the track around 800 metres away. They applied the brakes and brought down the speed of the train, which hit the jeep and dragged it for about 30 metres before coming to a halt,” a railway official said. If the train was moving faster, it would have derailed causing a big tragedy, he said.

Were they clicking selfie?
Though Sandeep claimed that a technical snag led to the accident, locals alleged that the couple was trying to click a selfie after parking the jeep on the tracks. “There is a rocky area next to the railway track, which has become a picnic spot.

The jeep was heading towards the spot. But people saw them parking their jeep on the track and taking selfies. When they heard the arriving train, the man tried to take the jeep out of the tracks, but could not.

When they realised it was too late, they jumped out of the vehicle and ran away,” alleged Shivakumar, a resident of Basavanapura. But the RPF police ruled out the selfie theory.

The RPF police have booked Sandeep under Sections 147 (trespass and refusal to desist from trespass), 153 (endangering safety of persons travelling by railway by willful act or omission), 159 (disobedience of drivers or conductors of vehicles to directions of railway servant) and 174 (obstructing running of train) and other sections of The Railways Act.