This story is from September 3, 2020

Train mows down teen making ‘stunt video’ in Malda, friend injured

Train mows down teen making ‘stunt video’ in Malda, friend injured
Malda: A 14-year-old boy, reportedly trying to pull off a stunt on railway tracks for a video clip, was fatally hit by a goods train at Madhughat under English Bazaar police station here on Tuesday.
While Manoj Mandal died of head injuries before he could receive any medical attention, friend Bhola Roy — also in his teens — was lucky to be flung off the tracks on impact and is in hospital.
Police have sent Manoj’s body for autopsy.
Family members of the boy, who was a resident of Kajigram and a Class IX student, have refused to buy the accident angle. In fact, father Utpal Mandal insists murder. “My son went to Madhughat to meet his friend Bhola. We believe he was forcibly taken to the railway tracks and killed,” Mandal told cops.
Sources in police said preliminary investigation suggested that the boys were shooting a stunt video for social media. They were lying down on the tracks and didn’t notice the approaching train. Local residents rushed them to Malda Medical College and Hospital, where doctors declared Manoj brought dead.
Satyajit Choudhury, head of Kajigram panchayat, observed that despite the ban on apps such as TikTok, youngsters were woefully addicted to social media and gimmicks that came with it. “We demand a thorough probe into the boy’s death,” he said.
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