Drug-addict held while laying rod on tracks near Masjid

Mumbai: Nineteen-year-old Deva Sukhlal Kohl aka Amar who has become infamous for being caught red-handed for laying a 60 kg rail piece on the CST to Masjid section on Saturday, was seen throwing stones at the signal box minutes before he kicked the railway track piece on to the railway track.

Kohl was on a rampage, destroying railway property like the signal box and hitting it with a rod as well, Railway Police Force (RPF) sources said. The teenager has also confessed to RPF that he was not able to support his drug habit and had been kicked of out from his home by his family in the small town called Siddhi in Madhya Pradesh for the habit.

As he had no education or specific skill set and owing to his drug habit, Kohl was unable to hold down a job, sources said. As a result, he began to scavenge for plastic bottles and supported his habit by selling the same. An RPF official said, “The boy seemed to be in a frustrated state of mind.” He further added, “He was spotted throwing stones at signal boxes. A few saw him taking a small rod and hitting the same box as well. We think he was going through withdrawal symptoms since he had no money to purchase any drugs and went off the edge.”

Kohl currently sleeps on the footpaths near Kala Ghoda and said some police officials who were on their rounds had beaten him up there on Friday night. The official said, “During interrogation he said that the police won’t even let him get a good night’s rest and that he was beaten up for sleeping on the footpath near Kala Ghoda on Friday night.”

The 60-kg rail piece was laid on the track at around 4:30 pm by Kohl and was seen while doing so by the motorman D.N. Parghi. Mr Parghi duly told the pointsman to catch Kohl, when he was trying to flee.