28 October,2026 07:27 AM IST | Mumbai | Abhitash Singh
Sahil Navnath Thite, a final-year BCom student at Ratnam College, was struck by a Kalyan-bound fast local at Bhandup station. Pic/By Special Arrangement
A day after a major signalling failure crippled Central Railway services for several hours, the family of a 21-year-old college student who died while crossing the tracks at Bhandup has demanded compensation from the railways, alleging that the disruption contributed to his death.
Sahil Navnath Thite, a final-year BCom student at Ratnam College, was struck by a Kalyan-bound fast local at Bhandup station on Monday evening. According to his family, he was trying to reach a slow train after being unable to travel towards Bhandup on a fast local amid the disruption.
College students duck under a stationary train to avoid being hit by a train amid Monday's disruption on the mainline of Central Railway
Relatives claimed that several commuters were crossing the tracks to reach another platform when the incident occurred. They alleged that Sahil was climbing onto the platform when an approaching train caught his bag, causing him to fall and die. His cousins, Vishal Thite and Sandeep Thite, have sought compensation from the railways, alleging that the service disruption contributed to the fatal incident.
Sandeep also claimed that five people had died in incidents linked to the signalling failure across Kanjurmarg, Vikhroli, Ghatkopar and Mulund. However, this figure could not be independently verified. Kurla Railway Police have reportedly described Sahil's death as a trespassing-related accident and disputed its connection to the signalling disruption.
In a separate incident on Monday, two brothers, identified as Kharban Rajbhar, 39, and Rahul Rajbhar, 25, died on the tracks between Ghatkopar and Vikhroli. Both worked as labourers. Police Sub-Inspector Pradeep Shinde of Kurla Railway Police Station said the brothers were natives of Mau in Uttar Pradesh and lived together in a chawl in Thane, away from their families.
Commuters walk along the railway tracks amid Monday's Central Railway disruption. Pics/Sayyed Sameer Abedi
Kharban was married and had four sons, while Rahul was unmarried. According to Shinde, the incident occurred at around 4 pm and involved a Kalyan-bound AC fast local. As the location falls between two stations, there is no CCTV footage of the incident. Railway police have registered an accidental death report (ADR) and are investigating the circumstances.
The deaths occurred amid widespread commuter disruption following a fire inside a signalling hut at Kanjurmarg on Monday morning. The fire damaged the Centralised Traffic Control (CTC) rack and signalling and telecommunications (S&T) equipment, affecting train operations.
A separate overhead equipment issue between Mulund and Thane compounded the disruption. A member of Sahil's family said they were not in a position to speak further. "We are going to Pune for Sahil's cremation, and we are not in a mood to speak," the relative said.
Chief Public Relations Officer Dr Swapnil Nila said the damaged CTC rack and S&T equipment had been repaired by around 7 pm on Monday. He confirmed that there were no signalling problems on Tuesday. Central Railway has constituted a high-level committee to investigate the cause of the fire.
