Train firing: Jail tells court former RPF cop suffering from mental disorder, needs treatment

Mumbai, Jan 9 (PTI) Dismissed RPF constable Chetansinh Chaudhary, accused of killing four persons on a train, was suffering from a mental disorder and needs to be shifted to a Nagpur hospital for further treatment, authorities of the Maharashtra jail where he is lodged told a court on Thursday.

Chaudhary is accused of shooting dead his senior colleague, Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Tika Ram Meena, and three passengers on board the Jaipur-Mumbai Central Superfast Express near Palghar station on Mumbai's outskirts on July 31, 2023, with his service weapon. He was arrested soon after the early morning horrific firing and is in jail since then.

Dismissed from the Railway Protection Force (RPF) after his arrest, the former constable is currently lodged in the Central Prison in Akola district in eastern Maharashtra, around 550km from Mumbai, under judicial custody.

In a letter sent to the sessions court at Dindoshi in Mumbai, conducting trial in the case, the jail superintendent said that on December 19, Choudhary (35) was not feeling well and hence was taken to the district hospital in Akola for medical treatment.

After examining him, the medical officer at the government-run hospital observed the former constable has "mentally sick/disorder symptoms", according to the letter.

Hence, the medical officer wrote a letter to the superintendent of Akola Central Prison directing him to take the accused to Regional Mental Hospital (Nagpur) for further treatment, the letter said.

However, advocate Fazlurrahman Shaikh, representing the victims, opposed the jail's contention, saying "absolutely no medical abnormality" has been mentioned in the charge-sheet filed against the accused.

The advocate, citing a medical report of Chaudhary's doctor, noted the accused is "absolutely fit" and has no mental health issues.

The letter issued by the Akola jail should be rejected and there was no need to send the former RPF cop to Nagpur for any medical treatment, Shaikh submitted before the court.

The prosecution, however, said the accused can be shifted to a mental hospital in Thane adjoining Mumbai, which will be convenient for trial.

The sessions court is yet to pass an order on the matter.

Chaudhary has been charged under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 302 (murder), 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc) and others, as well as relevant provisions of the Railways Act and the Maharashtra Prevention Of Defacement of Property Act.

Chaudhary was nabbed with his weapon while trying to flee after passengers pulled the chain of the train which stopped near Mira Road station (on the Mumbai suburban network).

According to the police, he first shot dead ASI Meena and a passenger in B5 coach with his automatic weapon. Chaudhary then fatally shot a second passenger in the pantry car and another traveller in S6 coach. PTI AVI RSY