NEW DELHI: A 32-year-old Delhi Metro security guard travelling back home after a night’s work died after he was assaulted by a group of passengers at Shahdara railway station on Saturday morning.Eight people, who were seen in a viral video attacking him and later boarding a train, have been detained.The man, identified as Pankaj Dhama, was returning to his village in UP’s Baghpat after his shift at the IP Extension Metro Station. Police and Pankaj’s family have offered differing accounts of how the incident unfolded.Police said the fight began as passengers tried to board the Yoga Express at Shahdara station. Pankaj was allegedly standing at the doorway, obstructing others from entering, when an argument erupted and escalated into assault. But his family said he was attacked while trying to get off the train at Shahdara to catch a connecting train to hometown.
‘No one at platform came to rescue son’
According to the family, Pankaj routinely commuted between Delhi and Baghpat after working overnight shifts with the Delhi Metro.“He used to board a train from Delhi to Shahdara and then take another train to Baghpat from Shahdara railway station. When he was getting off, the attackers did not allow him to deboard and assaulted him,” his father Rajender Dhama alleged.DCP (Railways) Bharat Reddy said, “Upon reaching the spot, it was found that Pankaj had been severely assaulted by fellow passengers while attempting to board the Yoga Express”. Pankaj was taken to a hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival, said the officer.Father Rajender said he was on his way to his farmland when he received a call informing him of his son’s condition. “The caller was one of the guards who knew Pankaj. They unlocked his phone using his thumbprint and informed me.”A video of the incident later surfaced online, showing a group of men thrashing Pankaj on the platform, with a uniformed official also visible at the spot. The attackers then leave him on the platform and board the Haridwarbound Yoga Express.The father alleged the railway protection force (RPF) personnel present at the spot failed to intervene in time or arrange immediate medical assistance. “He was left lying on the platform for a long time.”Northern railway chief public relations officer Himanshu Shekhar Upadhyay disputed the family’s allegations.“At the time of the incident, a police constable intervened and separated both parties. Thereafter, the injured person, who had become unconscious, was taken to the nearest hospital, where doctors declared him dead. The accused have been taken into police custody. Legal proceedings are underway,” Upadhyay said.Backing this version, police said an RPF constable had intervened and attempted to defuse the situation.The grieving father said his son was the breadwinner and is survived by his wife, two children, a six-year-old son and a one-and-a-half-year-old daughter. His brother demanded death penalty for the accused.The brother said he received a call about the incident around 6. 30am. He said his brother had been working as a guard for the past 10 to 12 years.“There were personnel present there, but he did not get any help. If timely assistance had been provided, he might have survived,” he said.An RPF officer said they received information at 6. 03am and rushed the victim to the hospital. “After the incident, the youths boarded the Haridwarbound train and fled the station. They were later tracked down and detained at Muzaffarnagar railway station,” the officer said.A case has been registered.A DMRC official said security guards are outsourced through agencies.
