Train firing: Passenger forced to walk to pantry car before Railway cop shot him

Railway Protection Force (RPF) constable Chetan Singh forced a passenger of the B2 bogie of the Jaipur-Mumbai train to walk at gunpoint up to the pantry car.

Which is two coaches away, where he shot him dead, a GRP official said on Tuesday citing the investigation.

Singh (33) is accused of gunning down his senior RPF colleague Tika Ram Meena and three passengers aboard the moving train near Palghar railway station on the outskirts of Mumbai in the early hours of Monday with his automatic weapon, officials had said. He was nabbed later.

“RPF constable Chetan Singh forced Syed S, a passenger travelling in B2 coach of the train, 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,” the official said.

The GRP is collecting details of the passengers in at least five bogies who might have witnessed the killings as Singh strutted with the automatic weapon. Statements of at least a dozen passengers have been recorded so far, according to the official.

“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,” the official added.

He said many passengers alighted at Borivali station before the train reached its final destination of Mumbai Central on Monday morning.

“Taking this into account, we will try to record statements of maximum passengers, especially those who are prime witnesses,” the official added.

The deceased passengers were identified as Abdul Kadarbhai Mohammed Hussain Bhanpurwala (58), a resident of Nalasopara in Palghar, and Asgar Abbas Sheikh (48), a resident of Madhubani in Bihar. A GRP official on Tuesday said the third passenger killed by Singh is identified as Syed S (43).

Singh had allegedly shot dead RPF Assistant Sub-Inspector Meena and another passenger in the B5 coach and one more passenger in the S6 coach, which is 8th bogie from the B5 coach, an official had said.

Another senior official said GRP will scan the footage of CCTV cameras installed on the train as part of the investigation.

Members of a high-level committee, set up to conduct a probe into the shooting incident, have reached Mumbai and they are expected to meet officials concerned, authorities said.

The Railway Board has set up a five-member committee to conduct a “comprehensive inquiry” into the train firing incident, an official said.

A court here on Tuesday remanded the accused constable in the custody of Government Railway Police till August 7.