People are drinking alcohol in my coach'- Himshree told the family in the last call, what happened next?
Author, Lakkoju Srinivas
Designation for BBC News Telugu
Published 2 minutes ago
Reading Time: 8 minutes
Himashree Boro, who had come to Visakhapatnam from Assam to participate in a dance program, had left for her home to appear for the exam.
She was traveling in Vivek Express running between Kanyakumari-Dibrugarh. She called her family and told them that some people were drinking alcohol in the coach in which she was traveling and she was feeling scared. After some time his phone got switched off.
The next day his body was found on the side of the railway track in Srikakulam district.
According to the police, all these incidents took place between the evening of October 5 and the morning of October 7.
Did Himashree fall from the train accidentally? Or did someone push him? What exactly happened in the train that night?
Why could the railway security staff not find him despite receiving information? Andhra Pradesh and Assam Police are investigating to know the answers to these questions.
Demanding a complete investigation into Himashree's death, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has written a letter to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu.
Himashree had gone to Visakhapatnam from Assam.
Himashree Boro, a resident of Bonda area of Guwahati, Assam, had come to Visakhapatnam with a team to participate in a dance program.
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The rest of the team members stayed there, but because of the exam the next day, they decided to return home.
Srikakulam SP K.V. Maheshwar Reddy told that Himashree tried to get a train ticket to go to Guwahati on October 5, but did not get the reservation.
He told BBC that after this Himashree took a general ticket and boarded the Vivek Express running between Kanyakumari and Dibrugarh.
SP told that the train was already very crowded. Because of this, Himashree did not get a seat and remained standing near the door of the coach.
He told that passengers who had not made reservation had also boarded the sleeper coach. That's why there was a lot of crowd in that coach.
Called and told - 'I am feeling scared in the train'
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Himashree was traveling in S-2 coach. At midnight he talked to his family on the phone. According to the family, they had told that some male passengers in the coach were drinking alcohol and they were feeling scared.
The family told that after around 2.30 in the night they called Himashree, but did not get any response.
After this the family informed Railway Helpline 139 and Guwahati Railway Police.
Srikakulam SP said that Himashree had also sent a video of the condition of the coach to one of her friends. Police is trying to identify the people seen drinking alcohol in this video.
However, the SP said that nothing particularly suspicious is visible in the video. Despite this, the police is tracking the people seen in the video.
SP said that at the time of giving information on the helpline, information about which coach Himashree was traveling in was not clearly given.
SP Maheshwar Reddy told BBC, "The call was received after crossing Vizianagaram station. After this, the next station was Amadalavalasa, so the railway security staff tried to search for him there. But he could not be traced."
dead body found on the side of the track
On October 7, the railway police found Himashree's body on the side of the track near Boddepalli Pet in the Amadalavalasa-Ponduru railway section in Srikakulam district.
Her two bags were found in the coach of the train in which she was travelling.
The family was informed about this on the basis of information from the Aadhar card found near the dead body. After this the body was taken to the government hospital in Srikakulam. The family members reached Srikakulam and identified the body.
After this he informed SP K.V. Met Maheshwar Reddy and expressed his apprehensions.
He demanded that his daughter had talked about feeling scared in the train, what happened to her should be found out and the matter should be thoroughly investigated.
Accident or murder?
To find out the reason for Himashree's death, the police is investigating from many aspects.
Police are trying to find out whether she fell from the train accidentally? Did someone intentionally push them? Was there any kind of misbehavior with him in the train?
Srikakulam SP K.V. According to Maheshwar Reddy, no evidence of physical attack on him has been found in the post-mortem report.
However, he said that whether Himashree fell from the train accidentally or there was some other reason for it will be known only after the investigation is completed.
Police have interrogated some passengers traveling in the train. SP said that none of the passengers who have been interrogated so far have said that any such incident took place in the train.
He said that it is becoming difficult to identify passengers traveling without reservation. Efforts to identify them are ongoing.
'She might have been scared because there were more men in the coach.'
The Assam government has appointed a special investigating officer to investigate this incident.
Assam IG GV Shivaprasad reached Srikakulam and gathered information about the case by talking to the local police and railway police.
GV Shivprasad said, "Investigation is being done from many aspects. All the passengers present in the coach have been contacted. So far, no strong clue has been found which would reveal anything suspicious. Since there were mostly men in the coach, she might have got scared. Whether it was an accident or someone did it intentionally, this will be known in the investigation."
He told that the video present in Himashree's phone has also been examined.
He clarified that no final conclusion can be drawn about the cause of his death until the investigation into the aspects related to the video is completed.
Was there any dispute regarding remuneration in the dance team?
Before Himashree's death, there was a dispute in the dance team regarding payment of remuneration. Dr. Tapan Das, MLA from Dimoria assembly constituency of Assam has said this.
According to a report in The Indian Express, he said that two youths of the team were beaten up when they demanded their due remuneration from the organizers of the event in Visakhapatnam.
He told that after this incident the dance team left the hostel and reached the railway station.
He also told that one of the youths who was assaulted had helped Himshree to board the Vivek Express. This is also visible in the CCTV footage of the station.
However, whether there was any connection between the remuneration dispute and Himashree's death is not yet clear.
The reply of the event organizers on these allegations and the information revealed in the police investigation is awaited.
Himashree was a resident of Boro Dimoria assembly constituency.
Special teams for investigation
Srikakulam District Police has formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) in this case.
SP KV Police teams have been formed under the leadership of Maheshwar Reddy.
Four RPF personnel are also involved in the investigation.
The incident site has been inspected by experts from the regional forensic science lab, clues team, dog squad and drone teams.
Police are examining CCTV footage of Visakhapatnam railway station, phone call records of Himashree, information related to his travel and the video sent to his friend.
On October 9, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sharma wrote separate letters to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav, demanding a comprehensive, impartial and time-bound investigation into the death of Himashree Boro.
He demanded a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding Himashree's train journey, his disappearance and the subsequent recovery of his body.
