Viral video claims train stopped to buy samosas in MP; 'misleading', say railway officials

Indore, Jul 8 (PTI) A video has surfaced on social media claiming to show a loco pilot stopping a train near Indore to buy samosas from a shop, but the Western Railway on Wednesday termed it as "misleading", saying that the cargo train was stopped there as part of an "authorised operational halt". According to the Railways, the train seen in the video was not a passenger train, but a freight train that was standing at the home signal due to pre-scheduled engineering work at the Rau yard. It also said the railway staffer who bought the food items during the halt was a standby assistant loco pilot. The video shows the train stopped near a snack shop located on the tracks. A man wearing a railway uniform is seen taking food items from the shop and returning to the loco pilot's cabin. A claim was made on social media that the train was stopped exclusively to buy samosas. Ratlam Railway Division Public Relations Officer Mukesh Kumar said, "The video has been investigated. It revealed that the freight train in question did not receive a signal due to ongoing engineering work on the track ahead, and was therefore stopped at the home signal at Rau." Kumar stated that the person seen in the video was not the train's on-duty assistant loco pilot, but a spare (reserve) assistant loco pilot. He said the man purchased food items during the authorised operational halt. The freight train was not left unattended during the incident, and both the on-duty loco pilot and assistant loco pilot were present at their designated positions. "The claim that the loco pilot stopped the train to buy samosas is completely baseless and false," he said. Kumar also clarified that the video was presented on social media as involving a DEMU passenger train, whereas the incident in question involved a freight train. According to him, facts were distorted through selected scenes from the video, creating confusion among the public and a false impression of the functioning of the Railways. Kumar said that legal action is also being considered against those who circulated the video with the misleading claim. Meanwhile, Pravesh Chaurasia, who runs a restaurant near the tracks in the Rau area, said the video was recorded between 11 and 11:30 am on Tuesday. Chaurasia claimed that freight trains and locomotives stop at designated locations when a railway signal flashes red, and that on such occasions, railway employees often purchase food items from his restaurant and then return to the train. PTI HWP MAS NP NSK