Gonda, 1 April

(HS): A Government Railway Police officer lost both legs after being struck by

a speeding train while chasing a fleeing suspect at the Gonda Junction railway

station, authorities said on Wednesday. The incident occurred at midnight on

Tuesday at platform number one, when Akash Singh (29), a 2018 batch recruit

from Mau district, arrested Sunil Kumar (35) on charges of assault and alleged

theft, according to Government Railway Police (GRP) SHO Dinesh Kumar Pandey. While

being detained for interrogation, the accused managed to escape and attempted

to board the Dibrugarh-Chandigarh Express, which was approaching the station,

he said. Singh chased him down and dragged him off the train, but he slipped

beneath it as he fell into the space between the train and the platform, Pandey

said.

Singh

suffered severe injuries, necessitating the amputation of both his legs, he

added. The injured constable was first sent to a railway hospital, then to a

medical college, and finally to the Lucknow Trauma Centre, where he remains in

serious condition in the intensive care unit.

The

accused, who suffered injuries during the event, has been caught and is being

treated at a medical college. Police have charged the defendant with assault,

theft, and fleeing from detention. GRP SP Laxmi Niwas Mishra has asked officers

and workers in the Gorakhpur zone to give one day's wage to the wounded

constable's treatment and assistance.

Hindusthan Samachar / Abhishek Awasthi