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The 33-year-old Railway Police Force constable Chetan Singh, who was arrested by the Borivali GRP for allegedly killing four persons including his senior in a long distance train, has not been cooperating with the probe and is giving misleading answers, investigators told the court on Tuesday
Singh was produced before the Borivali magistrate court and remanded in police custody for seven days. Defense lawyer Surendra Landge said, “While appearing for Singh, I took permission from the court and spoke to him to ask about the incident, when he told me that he was innocent and was not aware of what had happened.”
Seeking his fourteen-day police custody, GRP officials in their remand report claimed that Singh has not spoken a word about his motive and they are yet to ascertain the exact reason behind the murders. GRP officials said they want to conduct a specific test to ascertain whether he is mentally unstable.
“The crime took place in a running train between Vapi and Borivali railway station and we have to identify the exact sequence of events,” read the remand report.
Officials have further claimed that they wish to collect more evidence to build a strong case. As the incident of firing began near Vaitarna railway station, the defense lawyer claimed that he will be raising the issue of registering the case at Borivali GRP instead of Palghar or Vasai GRP before the court at the time of trial.
Officials said that since Singh’s family lives in Uttar Pradesh, it is necessary for their team to visit his native place for thorough investigation. “If there was a dispute between Singh and Meena before the incident, we want to identify the reason for it,” said GRP in its remand report.
As it also claimed that the accused has given no information regarding his motive behind killing Meena and three other passengers identified as Asgar Abbas Sheikh (48), Abdul Kadar Mohamed Hussain Bhanpurawala (64) and Syed Saifullah (40). “The accused is not co-operating during the investigation and is giving misleading answers. So we have to interrogate him thoroughly to understand the intention behind committing the crime,” GRP officials said in their remand report.
The investigators have further said that they need to investigate whether Singh has acted on someone else’s directions. GRP officials claim that they have so far recorded the statement of around 15 odd individuals, including railway employees, passenger and ticket checkers.
“We will be checking call data records of the accused and other RPF personnel. While we shall also check CCTV footage of the coach to understand the sequence of events,” said a senior police officer.
The defense lawyer further said, “Singh informed us that GRP personnel had not provided him with any food since the time he was detained. So I requested the court to provide him food following which GRP personnel were directed to do so.”
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