Court denies bail to sacked RPF constable accused of killing four persons on moving train

PTI, Dec 16, 2023, 2:49 PM IST

Acourt here on Saturday denied bail to dismissed Railway Protection Force (RPF) constable Chetansinh Chaudhary, accused of shooting dead his senior colleague and three passengers on a moving train in July this year.

Chaudhary, who is lodged in a jail in Maharashtra’s Akola, about 550 kms from here, was present in the court during the hearing. In his bail plea, filed last month through advocates Amit Mishra and Pankaj Ghildiyal, the accused said he has been suffering from ”haunted illusions of the ghostly world”, and doing some weird act.

The police had opposed his plea, saying that he appeared to have harboured ”anger and grudge” towards a particular community and showed no remorse for the crime committed. If his bail is granted, it could create a negative image about the law and also create fear, panic and insecurity among certain religious groups, the Government Railway Police (RPF), which is probing the case, had submitted.

Umesa Khatoon, wife of victim Asgar Shaikh, through her advocates Karim Pathan and Fazlurrahman Shaikh, had also opposed Chaudhary’s bail, saying the accused is a ”terrorist minded person” and ”a threat to the national security of the nation. The incident took place on July 31 on board the moving Jaipur-Mumbai Central Express near Palghar railway station in Maharashtra. He shot dead RPF Assistant Sub-Inspector Tika Ram Meena and another passenger in B5 coach with his automatic weapon. He then shot dead another passenger in a pantry car and one more passenger in S6 coach next to the pantry car after 5 am. Chaudhary (34) was later 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).

In October, the police filed a chargesheet against Chaudhary. He has been booked under the 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.