MUMBAI, October 23: The level crossing at Ulhasnagar, where a local train hit a truck, was not manned by a gate-keeper but a gangman. The collision on October 11 had left one dead and 12 injured.Enquiries with the railway police at Kalyan and Ulhasnagar revealed that the gangman Puddu was not trained to man the gates. ``If he was not trained to man gates, why was he posted there?,'' asked a railway police inspector from Kalyan, adding ``The man who decided that he should be posted there is more to blame.'' The shopkeepers and hawkers nearby gave a different version of events leading to the mishap. Fruit seller Ramprasad Singh, a witness to the accident claimed, ``The gate was open when the local moved towards it.'' The truck hit the local just behind the motorman's door.This raises many important questions. Why was the gate open if a train was approaching? Why did the train not stop at the signal before the gate? Wasn't the signal showing red if the gate was open?None of the local residents around the site could say if it was a signal fault. The railway authorities maintained there was no problem with its functioning.The Central Railway Chief Public Relations Officer Rakesh Saxena refuted the ``theory'' that the train was the first to arrive on the scene. ``If the truck hit the train afterwards then why would it have been dragged some distance?'' he asked.Local residents however maintained that the truck was thrown aside after impact even as the metal got enmeshed with the rake.Admitting that Puddu was not a gatekeeper, Saxena said that he had been trained to man gates and was given a competency certificate for the same. However, he could not remember the date when this certificate was issued.The Commissioner of Rail Authority, Dr D M Mani, who is conducting the enquiry will submit his report soon. While Saxena could not give the exact date when the report would be out he assured, ``The law will take its own course for the who are found guilty.''
