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Mumbai, Nov 13 (IANS) The Mumbai Railway Police on Thursday took suo motu cognizance of the ‘illegal’ protest by members of the Central Railway Mazdoor Sangh (CRMS) at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT). A case has been registered at CSMT Railway Police Station against two railway employees, identified as SK Dubey and Vivek Sisodia.
According to a statement issued by the Mumbai Railway Police, the protest was held on November 6 demanding withdrawal of the FIR lodged against two engineers in connection with the Mumbra station incident in which five people lost their lives. Without obtaining prior permission, CRMS members organized the agitation at CSMT, leading to charges of unlawful assembly and violation of public order and traffic rules.
On the day of the incident, CRMS members staged a sit-in outside the motorman’s lobby and the station manager’s office, disrupting railway operations and halting local train services for about an hour.
Around 4 pm, around 100 to 200 railway employees gathered at the meeting hall under the leadership of CRMS president Praveen Vajpayee and later marched peacefully towards the Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) office. However, after the official protest ended around 5.30 pm, around 30 to 40 employees led by Dubey and Sisodia reportedly entered the motorman’s lobby at CSMT and started the unapproved protest.
The protesters reportedly blocked the entry of motormen, guards and the station manager’s office using iron benches, resulting in the staff being trapped inside and local train services completely disrupted from 5.41 pm onwards. The stoppage caused congestion and confusion among passengers on the platforms.
The agitation ended at 6.38 pm after assurance from the DRM, after which train services gradually resumed.
A senior official said the CRMS protest violated existing prohibitory orders under section 163 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which bans the assembly of five or more persons within the jurisdiction of the Railway Police Commissionerate without prior permission.
A case has been registered under sections 189(2), 190, 127(2), 221 and 223 of the Indian Code of Justice (BNS) and sections 37(1) and 135 of the Maharashtra Police Act.
Police officials said that the accused will soon be called for questioning. The investigators are also probing who instigated and supported the CRMS members to hold the protest inside the station premises without prior permission. Currently investigation is going on.
–IANS
JK/DPB