‘It reminded me of Ajmal Kasab’ said coach attendant and eyewitness Krishna Kumar Shukla who had a lucky escape when Railway Protection Force (RPF) constable Chetan Singh shot dead his senior colleague Tikaram Meena and three passengers aboard a Jaipur-Mumbai Central Express train on Monday.
Singh allegedly shot dead RPF Assistant Sub-Inspector Meena and another passenger in the B5 coach and one more passenger in the S6 coach using an automatic weapon following a scuffle with Meena and another colleague Aman Acharya.
The deceased passengers were identified as Abdul Kadarbhai Mohammed Hussain Bhanpurwala (58), a resident of Nalasopara in Palghar, Asgar Abbas Sheikh (48), a resident of Madhubani in Bihar and Syed S (43).
Shukla, who referred to Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab in his account of the Mumbai firing incident, stated that he was acquainted with one of the victims as he had been a frequent passenger on the train route. “Bhanpurwala boarded the train at Bhawani Mandi railway station in Rajasthan and at around 7 pm on Sunday, he asked me to get tea for him and other passengers in his vicinity,” he said.
Recalling the incident on the moving train near Palghar station on the outskirts of Mumbai, the 41-year-old B4 coach attendant said he is assigned to sleep between coach B5 and B4, however, he exchanged his seat that night as he was feeling unwell and wanted to rest early. After taking his medicine, he decided to sleep in the attendant’s seat between coach B5 and B6, he was quoted as saying by the Indian Express.
He said he woke up around 5 am after hearing a loud sound. “Initially, I thought the noise must be due to a short circuit, so I got up and went to check B5. There, I saw Singh standing with a rifle in hand and Meena had collapsed in a pool of blood next to him,” Shukla said.
Shukla hurriedly followed Singh to keep an eye on his movements. A while later, Singh headed towards B4. “A passenger who was sleeping near the door came running to me in B6, informing me that an RPF personnel had shot another person,” recalled Shukla.
The passenger also mentioned that the two RPF men were engaged in a prolonged argument and it eventually led to one of them shooting the other, he added.
‘Chetan Singh Stood Beside Meena’s Dead Body for 5 Mins’
To avoid any risk of Singh coming into their coach, Shukla and some passengers decided to close the door between B6 and B5. “Since I was the attendant of B5, I positioned myself near the door to keep a close watch on my coach. After a while, I noticed Singh returning to Meena’s body, and he stood there for approximately five minutes,” he recounted. Singh then moved towards B4 coach.
Shukla made a call to an RPF official, informing them about the firing incident. Subsequently, the RPF official contacted RPF constable Aman Acharya and briefed him about what had happened.
Acharya is the complainant in the FIR against Singh following Singh’s arrest in the murder case registered under section 302 of Indian Penal Code (IPC), Arms Act and Railway Police Act.
The attendant said that Acharya had asked him to come to the pantry coach but was scared to move. “I stayed in B6 and later went to B5, where I saw Meena’s body on the floor,” he told the publisher.
At approximately 6 am, the train came to a stop between Mira Road and Dahisar railway stations, and it was at this point that Singh got off the train and was arrested shortly afterward. Singh allegedly fired indiscriminately at the train after he desembarked and walked on the railway tracks at the station.
Singh was shortly arrested by personnel of the Government Railway Police (GRP) and RPF after a chase and his weapon was seized.
“Having worked with Indian Railways for 12 years, I have never witnessed or heard of an incident like this before,” Shukla expressed.
The GRP is gathering information from passengers in at least five bogies who may have witnessed the killings when Singh brandished the automatic weapon. So far, statements from at least a dozen passengers have been recorded, an official told PTI.
According to latest reports by the RPF, Singh forced victim Syed S, a passenger of the B2 bogie, to walk at gunpoint up to the pantry car where he shot him dead. “They crossed coaches, B2 and B1, before reaching the pantry car while other passengers watched,” an official said.
Medical examination of the accused has been conducted but his motive behind the killings is still unclear. “We are collecting information about other passengers too,” authorities said.
Constable Chetan Singh has been remanded in the custody of Government Railway Police till August 7.
A resident of Hathras, Uttar Pradesh, Singh is suspected to be “mentally unstable” police said in their remand request and are planning to conduct a thorough examination to assess his mental state.
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