An eyewitness recounts the abject horror of the passengers who saw and heard the shooting as it happened
A bullet hole in a window on the Jaipur- Mumbai passenger train. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar
A passenger in the compartment where the shooting happened, recounts to mid-day what was probably the most terror-stricken night for everyone there. He tells mid-day that he and his wife had first heard angry voices which, within fear-filled minutes, ended in four people lying dead, all shot by a seemingly crazed RPF personnel with an automatic rifle.
A Train passenger present in the same compartment where the incident happened spoke to mid-day on condition of anonymity.
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Accused RPF constable Chetan Kumar Singh
On Sunday evening, my wife, kids, and I boarded the train from Rajasthan to Mumbai Central. Our coach was close to the pantry car. When the train was scheduled to reach Borivli at around 6 o’clock, I set an alarm for 5.00 am to pack our luggage and freshen up before our arrival.
As we were folding the bed sheets and organising our luggage, I overheard some people arguing loudly near the pantry car coach. Curious to know what was happening, I started walking towards the pantry coach, but my wife urged me not to go there. She thought it might be a quarrel over standing near the door for the upcoming station.
Police take accused Chetan Kumar Singh for a medical check-up from Borivli GRP Police Station. Pic/satej shinde
Suddenly, three men wearing pantry uniforms rushed towards our coach and stopped near my wife’s seat. One of them seemed very frightened and was trying to hide under a seat. Another man sat close to my wife, and when I asked him why he was so scared, he replied, “Woh goli maar raha hai. Woh goli maar raha hai” (He is firing shots). Hearing this, fear gripped me, as I thought someone with a gun might be approaching our coach to harm the passengers.
The three men left our coach and headed in the opposite direction of the pantry coach. We were in a panic mode after hearing what they said. Shortly after, I saw a fourth person, dressed in civilian clothes, running in the same direction as the three men in pantry uniforms. Within moments, a person in a khaki uniform, carrying a gun, followed them.
I watched anxiously as the person in khaki uniform pointed the gun at the fourth individual in the vestibule. Worried about the safety of other passengers, I believed the officer refrained from firing, perhaps to avoid risking others in the vestibule. The whole situation scared me, and I immediately retreated to my berth, switching off the lights to avoid any potential danger.
Minutes later, two gunshots echoed through the train, further intensifying our fears. Although we thought about getting off the train, we realised the train had stopped at an isolated location with no safe options. We suspected someone might have pulled the chain. The tense atmosphere persisted
as we waited for further developments.
At one point, a person’s voice shouted, “Aap police wale hain aur apne inko saabke saamne maar diya” (You are a police officer, and you killed him in front of everyone), to which someone responded loudly, “Yeh das logon ko maarta toh chalta kya aapko?” (Would you have let them kill 10 people?)
When we finally reached Borivli station and got down, we saw a large number of police officers present, adding to the intensity of the situation.
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