INDIA: Army soldiers murdered five civilians by pushing them out of a train 

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from MASUM, a human rights organisation in West Bengal, that five persons were killed and another seriously injured in Uttar Pradesh, when they were thrown from the Farakka Express Shikohabad by army jawans [soldiers] from Rajputana Rifles into the path of an oncoming train on 23 January 2005. It is alleged that the incident followed a quarrel between the two parties because the army jawans did not allow the six persons into a compartment claiming that it was only for military personnel. At Shikohabad Station, the army jawans threw six passengers out of the train. They fell on the parallel track and were crushed by the speeding Sampurna Kanti Express, which was passing by. Out of the six passengers, five were crushed to death while the other was badly injured.

AHRC is extremely distressed at this horrific incident and urges you to immediately intervene by writing to the Uttar Pradesh government to take action against the responsible army personnel. Please also urge it to compensate the families of the victims for their losses.

Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
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DETAILED INFORMATION:

Name of victims:
1. Nemilal from Bhind, Madhya Pradesh
2. Sukhram, Etawah, Uttar Pradesh
3. Mahesh Chandra, Etawah, Uttar Pradesh
4. An unidentified man
5. An unidentified woman
(**All the five were killed by the incident)
6. An unidentified injured person
Place of incident: Near the Shikohabad Railway Station, Uttar Pradesh, India
Alleged perpetrators:
1. Jogendra Singh
2. Pradeep Kumar
3. Rajendra Kumar
(** The three are army soldiers of the Rajputana rifles battalion)
4. Deepawal Biswas from the Border Security Force
Date of incident: 23 January 2005

Case details:

On 23 January 2005 at around 5:00am, some passengers entered the compartment of the Farakka Express on the Delhi-Kanpur route. The compartment was occupied by troops mostly from the Rajputana Rifles, an army battalion. An altercation broke out amongst the passengers and the army jawan [soldiers] who claimed that the compartment was reserved only for military personnel.

When the train halted at the Shikohabad railway station, Jogendra Singh, Pradeep Kumar and Rajendra Kumar of Rajputana Rifles along with another jawan of the Border Security Force allegedly threw six passengers out of the train onto the tracks of the oncoming Sampoorna Kranti Express. Five of the passengers were crushed to death while another was seriously injured and hospitalised. The Superintendent of Police, Ferozabad, Mr Ram Kumar, said that two of the victims’ bodies, a man and a woman, are yet to be identified. Local people are fearful that the police will not investigate in this case properly as the perpetrators are army soldiers. There have been repeated similar incidents where people were beaten and killed by army personnel after being thrown from a train.

The AHRC notes with great concern that the army soldiers, the so-called upholders of law and protectors of the citizens, are involved with crimes of such nature and instead of aiding the people, in fact go against them. The AHRC requests the requisite authorities to intervene in this case and provide justice to the victims. Simultaneously, the Government of India should ratify the Convention against Torture (CAT) and should immediately implement domestic legislation to put an end to such brutal crimes committed by the security forces in India.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send a letter to Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, asking him to immediately order a thorough and impartial investigation into this serious case and take proper action against all those involved in this crime. Please also send a copy of the letter to other relevant local authorities.

To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER