Grieving relatives of Asgar Abbas Sheikh, 48, one of the passengers shot dead allegedly by a Railway Protection Force (RPF) constable on board the express train, refused to accept his body and staged a protest outside a civic hospital in Mumbai in the evening.
Mohammad Amanullah Shaikh, younger brother of Asgar, told PTI that they were not going to accept the body until the railways announced compensation, made arrangements for carrying his body to Jaipur, where he was staying with his family, and the government assured a family member a job.
He later said his brother’s body had been shifted to JJ Hospital in central Mumbai from the civic-run Shatabdi Hospital in suburban Kandivali and they would continue the protest there.
The Western Railway (WR) on Monday night said it has digitally transferred Rs 10 lakh to the savings bank account of the victim’s wife. The same amount has been paid to the family of another deceased, said WR chief spokesperson Sumit Thakur.
“He (Asgar) has five children below the age of 12, but neither the railways have announced any compensation for them nor assured a job for a family member. They have also not made any arrangements for taking his body to Jaipur,” Mohammad said.
He said the family learnt about the firing incident after the police contacted his relatives in Bihar, his native state.
Mohammad, who works in a garment factory in Mumbai, said they hailed from Madhubani district of Bihar but his brother had settled down in Jaipur with his family.
According to Mohammad, his brother was working in a factory making bangles in the Rajasthan capital. But the factory shut down about a month and hence he was coming to Mumbai in search of a new job.
A railway officer said Asgar was travelling in the S6 coach.
Mufaddal Bhanpurwala, a relative of another victim Abdul Kadarbhai Mohammed Hussain Bhanpurwala, 48, said Abdul was returning to Mumbai from his native place, Bhanpur in Rajasthan, after observing Muharram there.
Abdul’s wife had gone to Dubai to see his sons who are working in the Gulf city. Abdul, who was travelling in the B5 (three-tier AC) coach, had also worked in Dubai for many years.
After returning from there, he had set up a business of diapers and operated a shop at Nalasopara in Palghar, his relative said.
PTI