AGRA: A 20-year-old youth travelling to Agra, Uttar Pradesh along with his silversmith friend in Visakhapatnam-Hazrat Nizamuddin Swarna Jayanti Express died after he allegedly consumed chemical instead of drinking water.

The incident took place on Tuesday afternoon in general coach of the train. The deceased has been identified as

(20). He was travelling along with his friend Santosh Sharma (24). Both hailed from Jhansi road and had boarded the train from Gwalior.

According to Santosh Sharma, "I was on upper berth while Saurab was on the lower one. He was watching video on phone and eating fried grains with headphone plugged into his ears. He mistakenly took out a chemical bottle instead of a water bottle from the backpack and drunk it. With the first sip, he realized his mistake as he was suffering from burning sensation and immediately pulled me down for help."

At the time of the incident, Delhi bound train was between Morena and Dholpur, but at 3.23pm when the train reached Agra Cantt, Saurab was declared dead by railway doctors who were kept on standby after an alert from express train guard.

Station house officer Vijay Kumar of Agra Cantt said, "Victim’s friend Santosh Sharma alleged that he pulled train alarm chain before Dholpur station for medical help but train guard SK Choubey after taking cognizance of the situation continued the journey for Agra which was 45 minutes away."

Speaking to TOI, train guard SK Choubey said, "The train chain was pulled after Dholpur station. I immediately met the victim and alerted Dholpur station master for help. But since train could not be taken back, it was decided to immediately travel Agra for medical assistance. The medical team was kept on standby mode after my distressed alert."

Ankush Goel, senior divisional operational manager of

, concurred with train guard claims and said, "Railway records show that alarm chain was pulled at 2.40pm between Dholpur and Mania station. Since Agra was the only station with a better medical facility, a guard took a call for further journey."

Meanwhile, GRP Agra Cantt booked victim's friend Santosh Sharma under IPC sections 304 (Punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder), based on the written complaint of the father of the deceased, Pritam Yadav.

"During questioning, Santosh claimed that he was carrying chemical in his backpack for cleaning of silver metal. He had some metal job in Agra and deceased Saurab had accompanied him. The case is now being transferred to Morena GRP, as accused Sharma claimed, that Saurab drunk chemical near Morena," said SHO.