GUWAHATI, July 17 - The accident at the Sealkotee Tea Estate railway crossing gate near Chabua on Sunday evening in which two persons died and another was injured when a vehicle was hit by the Rajdhani Express happened at a manned-level crossing.
It is noteworthy that only last week the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) had officially declared that all unmanned level crossings in the Tinsukia division have been eliminated.
�This was a manned-level crossing gate. There was a gateman on duty. And prima facie the cause of the accident seems to be that the gateman must have left the rail gate open. That was a dereliction of duty on part of the gateman. That is the prima facie observation,� said Pranav Jyoti Sharma, Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of NFR.
He said an inquiry has started on the matter.
Meanwhile, Public Relation Officer of NFR Nripen Bhattacharya said that the gateman who was on duty at the place has been suspended.
Bimal Sharma (65) and his son Arnab Garg Sharma (30) were killed and Bimal Sharma�s wife Anamika Sharma (60) was injured when the car they were travelling in was hit by the Dibrugarh-Delhi Rajdhani Express.
