Sahibganj (Jharkhand), October 23, 2026: A 47-year-old Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) jawan, Ashok Kumar Ghadei, was killed early Thursday after being run over by a coal-laden goods train on the Farakka-Lalmatia Merry-Go-Round (MGR) railway line in Sahibganj district while performing duty at NTPC Farakka.
Sahibganj Superintendent of Police Amit Kumar Singh stated that Ghadei, a resident of Arvind Nagar in Brahmapur city, Ganjam district, Odisha, was on board a coal-laden goods train proceeding from Lalmatia (Godda district) to the NTPC Farakka power plant in West Bengal. During routine patrolling, he alighted from the train to attend to a vacuum-related issue (train vacuum brake system) and came under the train’s wheels, sustaining critical injuries.
Local reports indicated that the body was recovered between Chutiya (Chutia) and Kunwarpur on the MGR line. The jawan suffered a serious head injury and a severed thigh. He was taken to the Barharwa Community Health Centre, where doctors declared him brought dead. The body was subsequently sent to Rajmahal Sub-Divisional Hospital for post-mortem examination.
The CISF Commandant informed SP Amit Kumar Singh of the incident. Police teams, including those from Ranga Thana, reached the site. An investigation is underway to ascertain the precise circumstances of the accident.
CISF personnel are routinely deployed on coal-laden freight trains operating on the NTPC-owned and operated Farakka-Lalmatia MGR route (a closed-loop system not forming part of the Indian Railways network) to prevent coal theft during transportation from the Eastern Coalfields Limited’s Rajmahal coal project at Lalmatia to the Farakka thermal power station.
The incident has cast a pall of mourning within the CISF unit at NTPC Farakka. Authorities have not yet released further details on the jawan’s rank, service particulars, or family.
