Uttar Pradesh: Train mows down 4 gangmen

Four gangmen working on a railway line were run over and killed by a train between Sandila and Umartali stations in Hardoi district of Uttar Pradesh Monday.

The gangmen were working on the tracks between the two stations, about 60 km from state capital Lucknow when the Kolkata-Amritsar Akal Takth Express ran over them at around 12 pm, a railway spokesperson said.

Senior officials have rushed to the spot and a probe has been ordered, Northern Railway spokesperson Deepak Kumar said in Delhi.

"The gangmen were reportedly doing drilling work on the track without any prior block," a statement from the northern railway said.

Additional SP, Hardoi, Gyananjay Singh said the gangmen who lost their lives are Kaushal (32), Rajesh (35), Ram Swarup (45) and Rajendra (42).

The bodies have been sent by the Railway Police for post-mortem examination, the ASP said.

Any repair or maintenance work should be done on tracks with prior blocks taken from the concerned zone. Specific blocks or time is taken for repair to ensure that workers are not caught in between the two approaching trains, officials said.

The incident comes barely weeks after 60 Dussehra revellers, including women and children, were mowed down by a train while watching the burning of a Ravana effigy near Amritsar.

(With inputs from agencies.)