The father, who was traveling in the Kanchenjunga Express from Siliguri to celebrate his daughter’s 11th birthday, lost his life in the accident. His daughter kept waiting for her father to bring the cake. Before getting on the train, the father spoke with his daughter via video call. He also promised to bring her a cake.
Subujit Mali, 31, a resident of Jamir Lane in Kolkata’s Ballygunge area, had gone to Siliguri on Friday for office work. He was supposed to be back in a few days. But Monday was daughter Shrishti’s 11th birthday. Subhojat’s daughter spoke to him on a video call. He promised to bring a birthday cake and take the whole family – his elderly parents, wife and two children – to celebrate. Calling his daughter ‘mother’, he told his daughter Shrishti during his last call, “I will return home at any cost… don’t worry.”
Let us tell you that on Monday morning, a Salda bound for Kanchenjunga Express was hit by a goods train parked near Rangapani, 30 km from New Jalpaiguri station in Siliguri, after which he lost his life. A senior doctor of the North Bengal Medical College said on Tuesday Because so far 10 people have been killed in this accident.
All preparations were made for Subujit’s daughter Srishti’s birthday, but fate had something else in mind. The news of the death of the daughter’s father, Subujit Mali, came in a train accident at Rangapani near New Jalpaiguri railway station in the northern part of the state. Like the rest of her family, Shrishti, a class 5 student at a school in south Kolkata, is unable to accept that her father will never return home alive.
“He was supposed to return after a few days, but he traveled by train on Monday because of his daughter’s birthday,” said Priya Pradhan, the deceased’s cousin. He said that “one of his colleagues, Suryaskar Panda, who worked in the same organization, also went to Siliguri. Yesterday morning, after the accident, he called home from someone else’s phone number and announced the news.” Subhajit also has a 1.5 year old son and often used to travel to the northern states of the country for his work. “He used to carry vehicles there. He was in this job for the last five years… He used to return home by road, but this time he took the train as he was in a hurry to return because of Shreshti’s birthday.”
God would have taken my life instead of my son – Subhojit’s father
Subujit’s elderly father was very sad. He said: “I don’t know what to say! God should have taken me instead of my son. Who will take care of his children now?” He urged Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to “do something” for her daughter-in-law. He said, “I will not take money from anyone, but I will ask our CM to see if something can be done for my daughter-in-law. Maybe she can get a job in some state government department.”
Subhojeet was a friendly and helpful person
Local Trinamool Congress councilor Sudarshan Mukhopadhyay used to call Subujit Mali as Subhu in the area. He said he was a friendly man who risked his life to help people, including Covid-19 patients, during the lockdown period. Mukhopadhyay recalled that he also bought PPE kits with his own money and took Covid patients to the hospital.
