A BUNGLED police investigation into the death of a man near a train station has led to fears that a bonus system for senior officers which is designed to keep the rail network running may be leading to corners being cut when dealing with fatalities.

British Transport Police (BTP) have been forced to overhaul their procedures after the family of Javaid Khan, 31, complained that his death had not been properly investigated.

Police initially concluded that Khan, an office administrator from Walthamstow, east London, had killed himself, or died accidentally, after his body was found alongside a railway track last year.

However, a second probe found no evidence of suicide and discovered that officers working on the first inquiry had failed to secure potentially crucial CCTV footage from nearby premises.

A coroner recorded an open verdict at an inquest in July and Khan’s family have now referred the case to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

The Sunday Times understands that at least one officer now facing potential disciplinary charges over the botched initial investigation is set to claim that he was asked to “hurry up” and clear the scene of Khan’s death.

Senior BTP officers and civilian staff receive bonuses of up to 15% of their annual salaries from the rail industry if they hit yearly targets, one of which requires trains to be running again within 90 minutes of a so-called “non-suspicious” fatality being reported.

A source said: “Most of the fatalities on rail lines are from people who take their own lives, but the constant pressure to clear the lines — with bonuses for the top people if it’s done — means that sometimes things get missed which might indicate that the death is not so straightforward.”

“We were very shocked to learn of the bonus structure in place for senior officers,” said Khan’s sister, Sophia, a teacher.

Khan, who had no history of depression or mental illness, had been on his way home from work when he went missing in April 2007. Heading for the train station his last text was to a friend he was due to meet later, in which he promised to ease her headache with “one of my special massages”.

His body was found near Woodgrange Park train station — four stops further up the line from where he should have disembarked.

A post mortem concluded that Khan had been hit by a train while standing. However, the impact seemed to have been on his head, raising the possibility that his unconscious body may have been moved onto the track.

Not satisfied with police claims that Khan had committed suicide, the victim’s family forced officers to launch another investigation.

Khan’s father, Mohammad, said: “Two police officers came to see the family on the morning they found him and they told us Javaid’s death was not of a suspicious nature.

“I said ‘He can’t have committed suicide’ and they said ‘How do you know?’. The way they talked to us was shocking.”

During the second probe, an analysis of Khan’s mobile phone records revealed that he was at Woodgrange Park station before the train had arrived — suggesting that he may have been abducted and driven to the station against his will.

Officers also discovered that a drug dealer had been operating at Woodgrange Park on the night of Khan’s death, although tests showed that Khan had not been high on drugs.

It was only after the second investigation that officers carried out door-to-door inquiries in the area. The first probe had also failed to trace the driver of the train that was assumed to have hit Khan.

Detective Superintendent Ashley Croft, who headed the new probe, said in a report that “failings” identified in the case meant that in future all deaths on the line would be reviewed by detectives from BTP’s specialist Major Investigation Team.

This weekend a BTP spokeswoman said Khan’s death was treated as “unexplained” for several days before being classified as “non-suspicious”. This meant there was no time pressure on officers to clear the scene quickly, she said.

The spokeswoman added: “There are lessons to be learned and we have changed some processes as a result. \[Khan’s\] death was declared non-suspicious and both the investigation at the time and extensive subsequent investigations have not found anything to contradict that assessment.”

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