Driver saw Sandhu jump before train

PATIALA, May 29: The driver of the train which ran over former Tarn Taran SSP Ajit Singh Sandhu has said that he saw a man wearing white cl...

PATIALA, May 29: The driver of the train which ran over former Tarn Taran SSP Ajit Singh Sandhu has said that he saw a man wearing white clothes walking on the right side of the track towards the train. Suddenly, the man jumped before the train and was run over.

In a statement to the Railway Police, the driver of the Delhi-Kalka Himalayan Queen Express said that he spotted the man when the train nearing Chandigarh close to the Indus Valley Club, near Lalru. Since people crossing rail tracks even while trains are speeding up is common, the driver said he thought the man in white was just another person crossing the track till he he jumped before the train. The train took some time to halt and reached at the Ghaggar station nearby. He and others walked back to the site and saw the body which has been cut into pieces. The matter was brought to the notice of the authorities concerned and a memo was submitted at the Ghaggar station.

The guard of the train and a farmer, who was working in field nearby, have reportedly corroborated the driver’s statement.

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Some persons at the Indus Valley Club told the police that Sandhu parked his white Contessa car around 10.30 am before he walked up the track and began strolling there.

The report of the examination of the viscera of Sandhu is keenly awaited as, so far in the investigation, the statement of the driver and the guard and the post-mortem report have given credence to the suicide theory. The viscera examination is a lengthy process and takes about 20 days.

According to the post-mortem report, the injuries on Sandhu’s body were ante mortem, suggesting that he had died after the train tore over him. The body was cut into two through the abdomen and the left hand was amputated. While his face was recognisable, the scalp and the skull were cut into pieces. His kidneys were also crushed, and there were multiple fractures.

Police sources say that the suicide note, which is said to have been written two days before Sandhu died, had been written on a page from his letterhead. The note has been sent to an handwriting expert and the report is expected within a week.