Disaster averted as alert commuters nab drunk motorman on Mumbai local

Alert commuters averted a major mishap that could have claimed thousands of lives as they caught an allegedly drunk motorman and handed him over to the Government Railway Police at Navi Mumbai's CBD Belapur station.

The incident took place at around 8.30 pm on Wednesday evening, when a Wadala-Belapur train entered platform number 2 of the Belapur station. After the train pulled into the station and the motorman was getting out of his cabin, some passers-by felt he was not completely in control of his senses. After which they alerted the GRP officials and handed him to them.

The GRP officials from Panvel railway station have refused to disclose the motorman's identity. "We have not registered any case as we have sent him for medical check-up at a government hospital and he is currently not on duty. We would be able to take necessary action only after the medical reports are out," said an official from Panvel GRP.

Earlier, this year in January a guard was found drunk with his foot on emergency brakes at Dombivali. A CST-bound train was pulling out of the station around 8.44 pm on January 11, when it suddenly halted, prompting the motorman to ring two bells in the guard's cabin as an indication and to request permission to proceed. Since there was no response, the motorman sounded the train's horn to indicate to the station master's office that something was amiss. Railway authorities did not even realise that the guard, Namdeo Sutake, was allegedly so drunk that he had his foot on the emergency brake for at least 10 minutes without even realising it.