Haunted Places Part 9: The Bombay High Court & The Barog Tunnel
In the 8th Part of the haunted series we bring to you the stories of the Bombay High Court and the Barog Tunnel.
You would have been eagerly waiting for the 9th part of the haunted series. Today we bring to you the 9th part in which we will talk about 2 places. The first one is, Yes that's right, the iconic Bombay High Court is haunted. If you see Bollywood movies which show the court scene, the arguments are quite entertaining. But the reality is different from bollywood films. The Bombay High Court has someone from the other world to keep people entertained! Bombay High Court was first inaugurated in 1862. It is one of the oldest high courts in India. According to several stories, the spirit of a murderer or a lawyer haunts the courtroom. It scares those who are accused of a murder by talking to them in a rough voice and abusing and cursing them.
It scares them from entering the courtroom too. It is said that the spirit has been around for 30 years but people do not know who it really is! Was it a lawyer who loves his job so much that he is still doing it after his death? Or was it someone who was wrongly proven guilty of murder? Who do you think it is? Shimla is a beautiful place and is called the ‘Queen of Hill Stations’ and is a popular tourist destination. In Shimla, it is interesting to take a train ride that passes through a number of tunnels in the mountains. One of the longest tunnels is on the Shimla-Kalka route. It lasts for over two minutes. As you exit the tunnel, you reach Barog railway station. This is even more interesting as there are also tales about the tunnel being haunted. Tunnel No 33 or the Barog Tunnel is named after Colonel Barog. In 1898, Colonel Barog who was a railway engineer was given the task of constructing a tunnel in this region in a specific time limit. He did several calculations and ordered laborers to start digging the mountain from both the ends so that they could meet in the middle and finish the job on time. But due to his miscalculation, even after digging till the center of the mountain, the laborers from different ends did not meet in the middle. Due to this, he was removed from the job and also fined by the government. The workers who were appointed to dig the tunnel too were angry at him for his mistake. This really depressed him and he felt absolutely humiliated and insulted.
It is said that one night on a walk with his pet dog, Colonel Barog shot himself. While the dog tried to get people to help his master bleed, by the time the dog could get any help, his master died. Later, Barog was buried outside the incomplete tunnel to pay homage to his work. But locals believe that even after his death he never left the place and his spirit still haunts the tunnel. After his death, the job of completing the tunnel was given to HS Herlington who moved the tunnel one kilometer away from its original spot and got the job done. But even today, people say Colonel Barog pays a visit to the tunnel. He even chats with people who are unaware of his existence but those who know who he is get scared. The government tried sealing the incomplete tunnel but every time the lock was found broken. Even so, his spirit is believed to be harmless and friendly who does not trouble anyone.
