Jaipur-Mumbai train shooting: Witness identify dismissed RPF constable in shooting case

On Monday, a 33-year-old man, who was travelling on the train, deposed as an eyewitness. He told the court that he had boarded the train from Jaipur and had slept on his berth after having dinner around 8pm. He said that he woke up around 3am on hearing a conversation between three personnel, one senior and two junior RPF personnel. He told the court that one of the junior policemen was speaking with his senior that he was not feeling well and wanted to alight. The senior told him that he cannot alight midway and he can alight at Borivali station in Mumbai. The passenger told the court that he heard the senior advise the junior policeman that he can take rest and sleep till the arrival of the station and asked for his service rifle to be handed over to another colleague. The passenger said that he checked the time and saw where he had reached before going back to sleep. The passenger said that around 5am, he again heard the unwell RPF officer demanding his rifle back, while his senior was trying to speak to him. The passenger told the court that he got down from his berth and went to the washroom when he heard 2-3 rounds being fired.

“I also heard, ‘maar diya re’. I opened the door of the bathroom and saw the RPF personnel, who was complaining earlier about being unwell, standing with his rifle and the officer he was speaking with, lying on the ground with blood coming out of his body,” the witness told court.

He said that he went back into the washroom and closed the door. He said that he called his mother and disclosed about the incident to her and also called an uncle who told him to remain in the washroom and to not fear. The passenger said that the train had then stopped between Mira Road and Dahisar stations and started again and reached Borivili station. He told the court that he opened the washroom door once the train reached Borivili and saw blood lying in the train coach and saw the police officer lying in the pool of blood. He said that he then requested the police for help in getting out of the train and went home. He said that he went to the police station the next day when his statement was recorded. During a test identification parade, the police also took him to Thane jail to identify the accused from a row of seven men. On Monday, he also identified Chaudhary, who was produced from jail via video-conference.

Chaudhary’s lawyer cross-examined the witness asking him questions about whether he was given a notice before his statement was recorded and whether he had deposited his train ticket with the police, to which he said no. The witness also denied the suggestion that he could
not have seen anything from the door of the washroom, other than the door on the other side. He said that he did not remember how many rounds had he told the police were fired and also said that he did not remember the exact number.

So far, at least five eyewitnesses have deposed in the trial.

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