Railway Police finds gaps in Arunima's account

A probe by the Government Railway Police has found loopholes in the version given by athlete Arunima Sinha that she lost her leg after being thrown out of a train by robbers in Bareilly.

Dismissing the investigations, the 23-year-old national level football and volleyball player said she was being "mentally harassed" by the police.

ADG, Railways AK Jain said, "The investigations point out that Arunima was disturbed and she either attempted suicide or met with an accident. We will unravel it in the next few days". "The loot attempt as alleged by her was not corroborated in the investigation by any of the witnesses on or off the record", the ADG said.

During investigation, it was found that no physical test for ITBP was scheduled for April 11 in Noida, where Arunima said she was heading.

Also, she was found at a spot, which was 16 feet away from the up track on which Padmavat express passed and she was lying on the far side of the adjacent down track, the investigators said, adding that it was impossible to land so far, if pushed out of the train.

Arunima's version that the speed of the train was very fast was also found to be "untrue" as after halting for 12 minutes at Chanaiti Railway Station in Bareilly, Padmavat Express moved 250 meteres (the spot, where she was found), where the speed cannot be more than eight km/hour, according to the investigators.

The investigators feel that Arunima had crossed the railway line. Claiming that her visit to Delhi was unplanned, the investigators said that Arunima was in touch with her brother-in-law Om Prakash Tripathi till 2.30 am while she was at Charbagh Station in Lucknow on April 10.

According to her mobile records, before coming to the station she made a call to her friend Sanjay in New Delhi from Kursi road.

Sanjay had told police that Arunima was disturbed and suddenly made a plan to visit Delhi. Arunima had claimed that she had lost her leg after she was pushed out of the Padmavat Express in Bareilly on April 11 by three men trying to snatch her gold chain when she was travelling to Delhi to appear for an examination.

When asked about the police view, Arunima said over phone from New Delhi that she was being "mentally harassed". "I don't know whether the police is with me or against me. I was going to CISF, Noida office to enuire about the Centre for physical exam scheduled on May 7 and to ensure a correction in my date of birth in the call letter I have received", Arunima said.

u00a0"Some persons tried to snatch my chain and one of them hit me on abdomen...and I fell", Arunima said.

When asked how she landed 16 feet away from track, the athlete said, "I was not so far..But I don't remember whether my foot came under Padmavat Express on any other train". She also stated that she was not going to appear in the ITBP exam.

Besides losing her leg, Arunima also sustained injuries on her spine and pelvic.

The police had lodged an FIR under section 307 (attempt to murder) and 393 (attempt to loot) against unidentified youths in this connection.