Arunima Sinha disputes GRP findings

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National-level athlete Arunima Sinha on Tuesday smelt politics in the Government Railway Police (GRP) probe into the incident in which she lost her leg and said that she was being ‘mentally harassed’ by the police.

A probe by the GRP has found loopholes in the version given by Sinha that she lost her leg after being pushed off a train by robbers in Bareilly. According to GRP findings Arunima was disturbed and she either attempted suicide or met with an accident.

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".

"If GRP is not satisfied then it is their problem. What I said is right and true. Five robbers had tried to rob my chain," 23-year-old Arunima, undergoing treatment at the AIIMS Trauma Centre here, said from her hospital bed.

When asked for her opinion as to why the railway police is allegeing her claims to be untrue she said: "They are trying to save themselves. Might be because of job. They fear that I might ask them for a job. They are playing politics with me."

After conducting initial investigations the GRP said the chain Sinha claimed to have been snatched was found in her purse. To this she replied: "I never said that the chain was stolen. If I had given away the chain to the robbers, would I have ended up losing one leg? When I was taken to a hospital in Bareilly, I remember that some nurse or some lady in the hospital in front of the doctor took the chain out from my neck and put it in my purse which also had my ATM card, PAN card and some money. She said she would hand them over to my guardian or relative at the hospital."

The incident happened on April 11 and Arunima was shifted from a Lucknow hospital to AIIMS Trauma Centre on April 18 after she developed an infection in her amputated leg.

Regarding the police's claims she had no luggage and was travelling without a ticket Sinha said: "What the police is telling regarding my ticket is lie. My ticket is still with me. During investigation nobody from the GRPF asked me for the ticket which is with me now - safe and sound. And since they did not investigate about the ticket they wrote in their reports that I was travelling without a ticket."

"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 2.30am 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 enquire 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.

"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.