At least three Public Interest Litigation have been filed against the Indian Railways after the September 29 stampede at Mumbai’s Elphinstone Road railway station that claimed 23 lives.

On Tuesday, the Bombay High Court agreed to hear a plea on October 5 that sought an inquiry by the National Investigation Agency into the incident to rule out any act of “soft terror’’, The Times of India reported. The plea was filed by perfume traders Faisal Banaraswala and Abdul Qureshi, who said the stampede was caused by rumours of the bridge falling and of a short circuit. “There was no bridge collapse. Worldwide, such tricks are employed for soft terror attacks,” read the petition.

Another plea was filed a day after the stampede. Pradeep Bhalekar, a Mumbai resident, had moved the Bombay High Court asking Railway officials to be arrested for negligence and culpable homicide. Bhalekar said the issue of the foot overbridge being too narrow had been raised by citizens several times but no action was taken. “This amounted to complete negligence on the part of the Railways,” said Bhalekar’s advocate Nitin Satpute, adding that the petitioner also wanted a court-supervised inquiry.

A third plea was filed by Thane activist Vikrant Tawade, who asked the Bombay High Court to appoint of a judicial commission to conduct the inquiry, The Free Press Journal reported.

MNS protest march on October 5

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray has taken to social media to announce a march on Thursday to highlight the problems city’s train commuters face, the Hindustan Times reported. The rally will start from Metro cinema and end at Churchgate station in South Mumbai.

“I want the people of Mumbai and Thane to come in large numbers. Till you come out on the streets, nothing will happen,” the newspaper quoted him as saying. Thackeray’s social media campaign includes videos of passengers struggling to board trains and jibes at the government’s plan to introduce bullet trains when the existing rail network is crumbling.