‘Reminded me of Kasab’: Train attendant on Jaipur-Mumbai Express who witnessed the shooting

The incident took place at around 5.15 am after the train left Vapi, and when it was about to reach Vaitarna railway station. The FIR states that Singh was angered by Meena as he had refused to relieve him early from duty despite having informed him that he was unwell.

The attendant Krishna Kumar Shukla, who was in a neighbouring coach, and is a witness in the case, said, “Bhanpurwala boarded the train at Bhawani Mandi railway station in Rajasthan. As he is a frequent passenger, we were familiar with each other. When at around 7 pm on Sunday, he requested me to get tea for him and other passengers around him, I got off at a station and brought them tea.” The 41-year-old claims that being the coach attendant of B5, he was supposed to sleep between coach B5 and B4, but since he was unwell and wanted to sleep early, he exchanged his seat. He took medicine and went to sleep on the (attendant) seat between B5 and B6.

“Suddenly at around 5 am, I woke up upon hearing a loud sound. I initially thought the noise must be a short circuit, so I got up and went to check B5. I saw Singh standing with a rifle in hand and Meena had collapsed in a pool of blood next to him,” Shukla said.

The attendant ran behind him to observe Singh’s movement. “Sometime later, Singh went in the direction of B4, after which a passenger sleeping near the door came running to me (B6), saying that an RPF personnel had shot another,” said Shukla. “The passenger also said that the two RPF men were arguing with each other for a long time, following which one of them shot the other,” he added.

To prevent any risk of Singh coming to their coach, Shukla and some passengers closed the door between B6 and B5. “As I was the attendant of B5, I stood near the door and kept a watch on my coach. After a while, I saw Singh returning to Meena’s body, and he stood there for around five minutes,” he said.

The attendant said that Shukla then went towards B4, during which he killed Bhanpurwala and shot Moinuddin in the pantry coach and Sheikh in coach S6. “As soon as he left B5 the second time, I phoned to inform an RPF personnel, who then informed another RPF constable Amay Acharya on board, who contacted me,” said Shukla. “Acharya was near the pantry coach, calling me there, but I was too scared to move. I stayed in B6 and later went to B5, where I saw Meena’s body on the floor.”

Around 6 am, the train halted between Mira Road and Dahisar railway stations where Singh alighted the train following which he was nabbed. “I have been working with Indian Railways for 12 years and have never seen or heard about an incident like this,” Shukla said.

Shukla hails from Satna in Madhya Pradesh.