Mumbai: The prosecution on Monday examined its first witness against sacked Railway Protection Force (RPF) constable Chetan Singh Chaudhary, arrested for killing four passengers, including his senior, on board a train in July last year.
The prosecution examined Chaudhary's colleague, a now-dismissed constable who was on duty in the train. The constable, Amay Acharya, who is also the complainant in the case, identified the weapons that were allotted to them and the one with ~ which Chaudhary opened fire. Acharya will be cross-examined by defence lawyer on November 27.
About The Shooting
The shooting occurred on July 31, last year, aboard the moving Jaipur-Mumbai Central Express near Palghar railway station. Passengers pulled the emergency chain, and Chaudhary was nabbed with his weapon while trying to flee when the train stopped near Mira Road station. He first shot dead RPF Assistant Sub-Inspector Tika Ram Meena and another passenger in B5 coach with his automatic weapon. Later he shot dead another passenger in a pantry car and one more passenger in S6 coach next to the pantry car after 5 am. His family has claimed that he was disturbed as he was transferred to the Mumbai division from Porbandar in April, last year, whereas he had sought transfer to either Mathura or Agra near his family.
In his statement to the police, Acharya had said that when the train reached Surat at Lllam, they boarded the Jaipur-Mumbai Superfast Express at 2.53 am and started the journey to Mumbai. Mina and Chaudhary were assigned to an air-conditioned compartment, while he and Head Constable Narendra Parmar were assigned to a sleeper coach, he said. Half an hour after the journey began, Mina informed him that Chaudhary was not feeling well and that Mina had asked him to take his rifle as he appeared restless. However, Acharya added, Chaudhary snatched his rifle back from Acharya after a while and turned aggressive, after which Acharya said he went away. Acharya along with another constable were subsequently dismissed from service.
