From station banners to digital portal: How Railway police trace identities of unknown accident victims | Mumbai News
Mumbai: In Oct 2024, Mangibai Naik, a 53-year-old woman from Ghatkopar, walked into a Govt Railway Police (GRP) chowky at Kurla station. She had been summoned by the police to examine a photo of an unidentified young man who had lost his life in a railway accident. After sharing a copy of the image with her daughter over phone, Naik was certain: the man was her missing son, Nandesh.The identification appeared conclusive until Bholanath Barik, a security guard from Boisar, arrived at the chowky a few days later. Barik believed the face in the photo belonged to his missing son, Ghanshyam. Both families had searched exhaustively for any word on their sons’ whereabouts. “The man (in the photograph) had died in a railway accident four months earlier and was cremated then. He hadn’t been carrying any personal effects that could be recognised by his family,” said a GRP officer. But investigators had preserved a blood sample. They turned to the state forensic science laboratory for a DNA profile to resolve the conflict. When the result finally arrived, the news was devastating for Barik: the victim was indeed Ghanshyam.
In 2025, railway accidents claimed 2,287 lives, with fatalities resulting from track crossing, falls from overcrowded trains, and collisions with railway poles, besides other factors. Over 23% of these victims remained unidentified, their families never knowing the fate of their loved ones. The GRP has ramped up its efforts to ascertain identities of unknown victims. As part of a special campaign, a dedicated four-member team was set up at each chowky towards the end of last year to pursue every possible lead.But there are challenges. Sometimes, victims are found disfigured beyond recognition or without identification documents or a cellphone that could provide investigators with a lead. Ghanshyam, too, wasn’t carrying any ID when he was struck by a train between Kurla and Vidyavihar stations while crossing the tracks on June 8, 2024.“Ghanshyam worked as a guard alongside his father. The two would fight frequently over money,” said a police official. On June 6, Ghanshyam left Boisar and never returned. He would have likely remained an anonymous statistic if not for a friend who spotted his photo on a banner, put up by the police at Kurla railway station, and alerted his father. The banner was put up with the intention that passing commuters might recognise someone they knew.Activist Sameer Zaveri said families of victims often have no idea which authority to turn to for help. “Migrant workers perishing in railway accidents in the city may remain unidentified as their families living in their hometown thousands of kilometers away may not even be aware the accident occurred,” Zaveri said.When a victim’s identity is not known, the body is held in a morgue for seven to 10 days while the police investigate. If no claimant emerges, the victim is cremated. The police retain a photo, a piece of clothing and personal belongings in case the family is traced later. In some instances, investigators have successfully identified victims through body tattoos or tailoring tags on clothes. The CCTNS (Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems) and the Maharashtra Citizen’s portal have become vital tools for ascertaining identities of unknown victims. Police key in details and upload photos of unidentified deceased persons via CCTNS, a govt project to digitise crime data and link police stations across the country. These details and photos can be accessed by anyone using the portal, a digital platform to track complaints and report incidents to the police. The portal provides for a search option by date and location. On Sept 23, 2025, a male commuter in his mid-thirties died after falling from a long-distance train between Sion and Kurla stations. With no identification found on his person, police uploaded his details and photo into the CCTNS. The details were eventually seen on the portal by Odisha’s Binati Durva, while she was searching for her 36-year-old brother, Gopinath.Gopinath had travelled from Odisha to Madgaon, Goa, with friends to look for work. But he decided to head back after a day. He called his wife to say he would take a train to Mumbai and then another train to Odisha. But he was never heard from again. “We wondered if he had changed his mind about coming home or if his phone had been stolen. Even the friends were clueless,” Binati said. Odisha police informed the Durvas that a complaint could not be registered as Gopinath had gone missing in another state. An acquaintance within the police department directed the family to the Citizen’s portal. On the portal, the family spotted a photo of an individual resembling Gopinath. They then asked distant relatives in Mumbai to verify details with the GRP. “We were shocked to find out that Gopinath had fallen off a train and perished,” Binati said. She and her brother-in-law travelled to Mumbai on unreserved train tickets, carrying a note from the police for the ticket checker explaining their situation. With limited funds, they stayed overnight at a temple before claiming Gopinath’s body.
