Mumbai: Constable shoots self in local train

A 35-year-old constable committed suicide last morning by shooting himself using his service rifle onboard a Borivli-Churchgate local train. Sources said that he might have used the big toe of his right foot to pull the trigger, since he only had his left shoe on.

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The deceased constable's mother grieves for him

The incident took place around 4.30 am, between Malad and Goregaon stations. Identified as Amar Gaikwad, the Government Railway Police (GRP) constable's bloodied body was found lying on the compartment floor in Churchgate station by some cops who had boarded the train for surveillance. They rushed the body to Gokuldas Tejpal hospital in Fort, where he was declared dead upon arrival after which it was sent to JJ hospital for autopsy.

Depressed?
Just before starting his night shift duty, Gaikwad had dinner with his colleagues in Borivli station before boarding a second-class compartment of the train. The colleagues said that Gaikwad had sounded depressed that day and talked of how insignificant his life was. However, no one could imagine that he would take this extreme step. According to Deepak Devraj, DCP, Western Railway, there was no suicide note found near his body, so the exact reason behind the move is still getting probed.

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"Our records show that Amar was a perpetual absentee. He had joined the force in 2000 and was absent from duty for almost one and a half years till now. We also got to know now that he was suffering from TB. His personal life was also in tatters, with him facing a divorce and then a separation from his eight-year-old boy who lives in Osmanabad with his mother. Since then, he has been staying with his mother at the government quarters in Ghatkopar," said an investigating officer. He added that Amar might have been suffering from suicidal tendencies as one of his colleagues said that he had tried to take his life earlier too.

His brother Vikrant Gaikwad, however, refused to accept this theory. "He was not a person who could do this and if he has committed suicide, I do not know the reason behind it. There was nothing wrong with him," said his brother.