Mumbai: 3 convicted for robbing passenger in local train

“The robbery at knife point in local train in broad day light is heinous crime. The accused no.1 to 3 not only robbed the informant (victim) but cause grievous hurt to him,” Additional Sessions Judge V M Sundale said in the order on April 15 which was made public this week.

Around 10.15 am on May 12, 2021, the victim was traveling to CSMT from Currey Road station on the Central line. The train halted between Masjid Bunder and CSMT due to a signal. A man came close towards the victim, pretending to ask him the time and started scuffling with him.

Meanwhile, another man showed him a knife and snatched the gold chain he was wearing, valued at Rs 67, 000 then. Two others, including a woman, part of the gang, forcibly took Rs 5,660 from the victim’s pockets.

The victim tried to restrain the man who had pulled his gold chain. The train began moving towards CSMT and the victim refused to let go of the man, even as the others assaulted him, assistant public prosecutor, Ratnavali Patil had submitted before the court.
The three others then ran away by jumping off the train. The victim shouted for help once the train reached CSMT.

The police caught the accused. He was identified as Aasif Shaikh. On being interrogated, he revealed the names of the other three.
While the police arrested Sherbanu Khan and Abdul Sayyed, another accused Wasim Akram, remained untraced and was declared a wanted accused.

During the trial, the victim deposed speaking about the assault by the four persons.

The court also considered the medical evidence including proof that the victim had sustained injuries. It also considered that the victim had identified the three accused in court.

“The informant had seen all the accused persons when they were beating him in the train. It has also come on record that while running away from the spot, the accused persons were calling each other by their names. All these facts clearly show that in this case, the identification of the accused persons in the court by the informant and witnesses constitute substantive evidence,” the court said.
While it sentenced Aasif and Sayyed to seven years in jail for causing grievous hurt during a robbery, the court, considering that the woman accused has two young children and that she had assisted in the robbery, sentenced her to three years in jail.

The accused, who have been in jail since 2021, submitted that they were falsely implicated but the court said that there was no reason for the victim to file a case against them.