Almost one-third of all bodies found on Mumbai suburban railway tracks in the past ten years are still unidentified and unclaimed. According to the data, from 2014 to 2024, 44,682 people died on railway property.
Out of the total, 18,836 died on Central Railways (CR) and 25,846 on Western Railways (WR). From these, 5,524 on CR and 8,416 on WR were not identified. In total, 13,940 bodies remained unclaimed.
This information comes from the Government Railway Police (GRP) in response to a Right to Information (RTI) request filed by railway activist Dr. Sarosh Mehta, as reported by HT.
As per the source, an average of seven deaths occur daily on Mumbai railway tracks. When a dead body is found, the police check for any identification, such as ID cards, bank cards, or contact details saved on mobile phones.
If no ID is found, a photo of the deceased is shared with police stations across Maharashtra. It is also sent to police headquarters in other states through their respective directors general of police. The image is also shown on Doordarshan to reach more people.
Bodies that are not claimed are kept in the mortuary. If no one comes to identify them within 10 days, GRP collects samples of hair, nails, and fingerprints to store DNA information for future reference.
Many times, people who are homeless, drug users, or mentally ill are also found, and they have no identification with them.
In 2011, the Bombay High Court (HC) ordered both CR and WR to create websites to display accident casualty information. This was after a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) by activist Sameer Zaveri. In 2012, the GRP launched a website, http://shodh.gov.in, for this purpose.
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