Train shooting: Witness says he saw ex-RPF cop pointing gun at passenger who was later dead

Mumbai, Oct 17 (PTI) A witness in the July 2023 shooting incident, in which a now dismissed RPF constable allegedly killed four persons on a moving train, told a Mumbai court on Friday he saw the accused taking a passenger out of a compartment at gunpoint.

Later, the witness, a bank manager who was on the same train, said he came to know the passenger had been killed, along with three others, allegedly by constable Chetan Singh Chaudhary, who was on duty on board the Jaipur-Mumbai Central Superfast Express where the shooting took place.

The bank manager, who was travelling on the Mumbai-bound train on the shooting day, appeared as a witness before Additional Sessions Judge (Dindoshi court) M H Pathan, who is hearing the case.

Asked by the prosecution to describe the passenger, the witness said in the court, "he had a beard without a moustache and by seeing his physical description, anybody can understand he belonged to the Muslim community".

Former Railway Protection Force (RPF) constable Chaudhary is accused of shooting dead his senior colleague, Assistant Sub-Inspector Tika Ram Meena, and three passengers on board the express train near Palghar station, around 100km from Mumbai, in the wee hours of July 31, 2023.

The three deceased passengers, Abdul Kadar Mohamed Hussain Bhanpurawala, Sayyad Saifuddin and Asgar Abbas Shaikh, were travelling in different bogies of the train.

Chaudhary (41), who was dismissed from service after the deadly shooting, was later arrested by the Government Railway Police (GRP). He is currently in jail under judicial custody.

When examined by Additional Public Prosecutor Sudhir Sapkale, the witness stated he was traveling in B2 coach of the train.

According to the bank manager, it was around 5am when he saw an RPF constable armed with a rifle coming in his coach and waking up a passenger who was sleeping on a middle berth.

The witness recalled that the RPF cop told the passenger to stand up and come out of the compartment by pointing the rifle towards him.

"Then the RPF person took the said person (passenger) out of my coach at gunpoint," the witness told the court.

"After reaching home I came to know the RPF constable had killed four people, including his senior officer and the person he took out of the coach at gunpoint," he testified.

Responding to a question by defence lawyer Jaywant Patil, the bank manager claimed he came to know about the shooting from news channels as well as his office colleagues who were talking about it.

The witness had earlier identified the accused during an identification parade at Thane Jail, where Chaudhary is lodged.

In court too, he identified the dismissed RPF constable, who was produced through video conferencing.

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), among others, as well as relevant provisions of the Railways Act and the Maharashtra Prevention of Defacement of Property Act. PTI AVI RSY