Job extension cuts short retired RMS staffer’s life
Times of India | 18 June 2024
Kolkata: Sixty-two-year-old Shankar Mohan Das, who was on an extension period of his job at the Railway Mail Service (RMS) department of India Post, had boarded the yellow parcel van of the Sealdah-bound 13174 Kanchenjunga Express at New Jalpaiguri station just 35 minutes before the train accident. Das, on duty, carrying parcels to Kolkata, was found dead at the spot on Monday after a goods train hit the express train.
“The extension, granted in early 2023, after my husband’s retirement, made the entire family delighted. But we never imagined he would die in a rail accident while performing his duty,” said Das’s wife Swapna (50).
Das, a resident of Canal Circular Road near Kankurgachhi, left home around 5.30 am on Sunday and headed to NJP with parcels from Sealdah station. He was supposed to return home on Monday night. “This had been his regular routine for the past 2 years and he mostly travelled by Kanchenjunga Express, at least twice in a week,” said Das’s cousin Partha.
Partha rushed to Sealdah station to enquire about Das’s whereabouts. Around 1 pm, one of his nephews, Akash Sarkar, who stays in north Bengal, confirmed Das’s death. “He called me at 7.25 am on Monday and told me he was about to board the train. It has been his habit for the last two decades to call every time before boarding a train,” Swapna said.
Das, known as Gour-da among friends, is survived by his octogenarian mother Kajal Rani, wife Swapna, sons Subhankar Mohan (31) and Subham Mohan (29). Subhankar, his wife and two relatives left for the accident spot by car in the afternoon.
Assistant superintendent, department of post, Siliguri, Debojyoti Sanyal, said three of their staffers had boarded the train. The two others, apart from Das, were Partho Das and Khokan Sen. “The injured duo is undergoing treatment at North Bengal Medical College and Hospital,” Sanyal said.
(Inputs from Biplab Bhattacharjee in Kolkata & Roshan Gupta in Darjeeling)