Mumbai: Killer RPF cop was a repeat offender

Chetan Singh

RPF constable Chetan Singh's hatred towards a particular religious community - three of whom he had gunned down inside the Jaipur-Mumbai Superfast Express - was not a recent development. The charge sheet filed by the GRP in connection with the rampage reveals that he had a history with communal animosity. He had earlier detained a member of the community when he was posted in Ujjain and also behaved inappropriately.

Singh, a constable attached to the RPF, Mumbai division, had fired on ASI Tikaram Meena and three others, Qadarbhai Bhanpurwala, Saifuddin Sayyed and Saifuddin Sayyed, on the Jaipur-Mumbai Express on July 31. The charge sheet includes his service record as well. During his 14 years of service, Singh had three offences registered against him. Singh got the job after his father passed away while on duty in 2007.

According to the charge sheet, Singh committed his first offence within the first year of his service. He had stolen the ATM card of his subordinate Mritunjoy Kumar, withdrawing Rs 25,000 from his account. The charges against him were proven during the investigation, and he accepted the offence too. He was finally suspended in October 2010. However, due to his liabilities and responsibilities of his mother, he was later taken back into service, and his salary was reduced instead.

On February 18, 2017, while he was posted in the dog squad in the Ratlam division, Singh detained a person identified as Wahid Khan. He took Khan to the Ujjain post and without reason troubled him and behaved inappropriately with him. He was charge sheeted, and his increments were stopped for the next six months. A year later, on February 11, 2018, Singh beat up his subordinate Mahesh Chouhan till his nose and face bled. The officials found him guilty and stopped his increments for a year. After the firing incident, the RPF finally initiated the probe and suspended him.

On Friday, the metropolitan magistrate's court in Borivli issued an order to deliver a copy of the charge sheet to the dismissed RPF constable. Singh had previously refused to accept the charge sheet during a video conference, while he was incarcerated in Akola prison. He had requested that it be handed over to his legal representation and expressed his desire to be transferred from Akola prison to Thane jail.

His lawyer, Surendra Landge, who also serves as the Secretary of the Borivli Advocate Bar Association, along with his associate Advocate Amit Mishra, informed the court that in addition to the charge sheet, they intend to submit an application to access a pen drive from the GRP. This pen drive contains complete CCTV recordings and videos of all the incidents related to the case. The hearing for this case is scheduled to commence on November 10.