Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Journalism of Courage
Jaipur-Mumbai train shooting: Accused seeks bail, claims ‘borderline insanity’
Dismissed RPF cop tells sessions court he is mentally unstable; prosecution opposes plea
The trial in the case is currently underway and the next hearing is scheduled on March 5. (File Photo)
Seeking bail for dismissed RPF constable Chetansinh Chaudhary, booked for the murders of his senior colleague and three passengers on the Jaipur-Mumbai train, his lawyer told a sessions court on Monday that he is suffering “borderline insanity”. Chaudhary was arrested for allegedly gunning down four on the train, while it was nearing Mumbai on July 31, 2023.
His lawyer, Pankaj Ghildiyal, told court that Chaudhary is still undergoing medication and has spent three years in jail, including four months and 22 days at a mental health institute in Thane. Chaudhary, in his bail plea filed in November 2025, has said that he is ‘mentally unstable’. Ghildiyal said that railway authorities had failed to conduct a mental assessment of Chaudhary. The chargesheet filed in the case does not refer to any mental health issues faced by Chaudhary, and a response from Thane jail earlier this month on his condition, says that he is stable. Last year, Chaudhary was referred to a mental institute in Thane and had spent over four months undergoing treatment.
His lawyer told court on Monday that the chargesheet does not speak of any intention that Chaudhary may have had to commit the murders and said that therefore the charge of murder is not applicable on him. He said that it could be a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder. Ghildiyal also claimed that a medical record from a private hospital in Uttar Pradesh, showed that Chaudhary was suffering from ‘abnormal hallucinations’. He sought for Chaudhary to be released on interim bail at least so he could meet his family members.
The Government Railway Police, which probed the case, said that Chaudhary was angered by the refusal of his senior sub-inspector Tikaram Meena to allow him to alight the train while on-duty, and had shot him and then three others, Asghar Ali Abbas Shaikh, Abdul Kader Bhanpurwala and Syed Saifuddin, identifying them on the basis of their religious markers.
Additional public prosecutor Sudhir Sakpal opposed the bail plea stating that there was no evidence of Chaudhary suffering from any mental health issue at the time of the incident and that it was a serious offence of murder.
The trial in the case is currently underway and the next hearing is scheduled on March 5. His earlier bail plea on similar grounds was rejected.
Advertisement
Loading Recommendations...
- 01
- 02
- 03
- 04
- 05
Live Blog