Patna: Days after a woman drove her SUV for nearly eight km over the railway tracks near Hyderabad in Telangana, bringing train services in that section to a halt, an auto-rickshaw driver in Bihar’s Sitamarhi district attempted to do the same on Saturday evening.
A video of the incident has now gone viral on social media. The auto driver, whose identity has not been disclosed by the authorities, did not manage to get too far though. He was stopped by locals and railway staff and handed over to the Government Railway Police (GRP) and Railway Protection Force (RPF).
Unlike in the earlier incident, the auto driver did not put up a resistance, despite being drunk. The woman who was arrested in Hyderabad was also drunk and had attacked those who attempted to pull her out of the vehicle.
The police said that on Saturday, the auto driver suddenly started driving on the tracks from the Mehsaul railway crossing, causing panic among railway staff and locals. A train was approaching from the opposite side on the track next to the one on which he was driving. The loco pilot spotted the auto-rickshaw and brought the train to a stop.
The video shows an auto-rickshaw parked on the railway tracks, with a passenger train halted close by. A shirtless man – the auto driver – is seen moving around as locals try to remove him and the vehicle from the railway premises. Later, a policeman is seen leading the man away.
“It is possible that he had watched the video of the woman from Hyderabad on social media and got inspired by it. We are trying to find out his real intentions,” a police officer said.
People have started questioning how the man got access to booze in a state that is under total prohibition since April 1, 2016. This prohibition was implemented by chief minister Nitish Kumar after women demanded it. Many have said that liquor is freely available in Bihar despite the ban.
