The 33-year-old RPF constable, who gunned down his senior and three Muslim men in the Jaipur-Mumbai Central Superfast Express on July 31, called his uncle in Uttar Pradesh and told him to see the “breaking news” about him on television news channels.
According to a chargesheet filed in court by the Borivali Government Railway Police (GRP), Chetansinh Chaudhary called his uncle (mother’s brother) Vasudev Solanki to tell him that he had killed four people in cold blood. The former railway cop shares a decent relationship with his uncle, who is a driver and works overnight, and would call him anytime of the day, police stated in the 1029-page chargesheet.
A report published in The Indian Express said as per the chargesheet, before killing his senior ASI Tikaram Meena and three Muslim passengers, his wife answered Chaudhary’s first call to Solanki at 4.30 am and told him that his uncle was sleeping. Chaudhary told Meena that he was feeling unwell and to let him get down from the train in Valsad or Vashi. But, he was told to stay on and rest as his duty was to end soon.
The chargesheet states that when Chaudhary made the second call at 6.10 am, Solanki received it. He then told his uncle that he had gunned down his superior and three passengers with his rifle. Solanki was shocked and told him that he did not believe what he was saying, to which Chaudhary told him to switch on the television and see him on “breaking news”.
Police have established charges of hate crime or Section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language) of the IPC against Chaudhary for two incidents.
First, when he shot dead a Muslim passenger and asked others to record him standing next to the body. In the video of his speech, which had gone viral, he is heard saying: “Pakistan se operate hue ye, aur media yehi coverage dikha rahi hai, unko sab pata chal raha hai, ye kya kar rahe hain… Agar vote dena hai, agar Hindustan mein rehna hai, to mai kehta hoon Modi aur Yogi, ye do hain.” Three video clips recorded by other passengers are also attached with the chargesheet.
Second, when he forced a woman in a burqa to say ‘Jai Mata Di’ at gunpoint and also threatened to shoot her when she resisted the second time.
Family trying to portray him as mentally unfit
The chargesheet states that both his uncle and his wife told Chaudhary to surrender. Police have stated that after the incident, Chaudhary first called his wife to ask her what he should do. He told her that he had made a big mistake and asked her to take care of their two children. “I love you a lot. If you say should I shoot myself,” he asked her in Hindi, as per the chargesheet. It was then that his wife told him to surrender.
Though the family is not supporting the killings, Chaudhary’s family is trying to save him by portraying him as a mentally unfit person with psychological issues. In her statement, his mother told police that her daughter-in-law was worried about her son as she felt there were changes in his behaviour after he was posted to Porbandar.
“He would bang his head against the wall and murmur when he was alone. Chaudhary and his mother were once called to his office by his superior who told them that he does not salute his seniors and also behaves rudely with them,” the chargesheet states as per the IE report.
Solanki also told police that he (Chaudhary) was disturbed over his posting away from his hometown. “Chaudhary was expecting posting near his hometown in Mathura or nearby, but he was transferred to Mumbai. He was disturbed over this,” Solanki stated before the police.
Solanki also told the police that Chaudhary had had a serious fall from a staircase seven years ago and suffered a head injury. He was also treated by a neurosurgeon.
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