A shoe of the man who was run over lying under the train. Picture by Aranya Sen

Calcutta, March 28: A man hoping to beat the rush for a seat tried to board a local train as it was entering Sealdah station and got crushed under its wheels tonight.

A mobile phone found on the body helped police get in touch with an acquaintance who identified Shankar Chakraborty, 42, a resident of Chakdah in Nadia.

“We have established contact with his family,” Sealdah railway police superintendent B.K. Mullick said late tonight.

A surge by passengers eager to grab seats before a local train stops and its passengers are able to get off is a regular affair. Hundreds of people rushed towards the Naihati-Sealdah train that chugged into Platform 2 at 8.38pm.

Chakraborty missed a door and fell between two compartments. He died on the spot, but the body could not be removed for 45 minutes as passengers agitated around it when faced with the prospect of missing the alternative train that was provided.

They started smashing train windowpanes. Local trains started leaving platforms 1, 2 and 3 again around 9.30 pm.

The train that came from Naihati was to leave Sealdah for Ranaghat, about 65km away in Nadia.

“The railway authorities had announced immediately after the accident that the Sealdah-Ranaghat local would leave from Platform 1 while the tracks and the undercarriage of the train on Platform 2 were cleaned,” said Jayanta Burman of Agarpara, on the northern fringes of Calcutta.

“There was a mad rush to board the alternative train. As a result, many passengers were stranded on the platform. When it was announced that the alternative train was leaving immediately, people started protesting,” said Sushanta Chatterjee of Ranaghat.

A large police contingent dispersed the mob with the threat of a baton charge.

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