Stone-throwing menace hits railway commuters, again

MUMBAI, OCT 14: Cases of stone throwing on local trains have started afresh with at least four incidents in an equal number of days, two ...

MUMBAI, OCT 14: Cases of stone throwing on local trains have started afresh with at least four incidents in an equal number of days, two of them taking place within an hour of each other on Wednesday night.

A 48-year-old commuter, Yeshwant Bhoir, was hit on the face by a stone thrown at a Kasara fast local train near Mumbra on Wednesday night. Railway police say the incident occurred at around 9.30 pm, when Bhoir was standing on the footboard of the Karjat-bound fast train when he was hit by a stone thrown from near the tracks. He sustained a broken tooth and a gash on his face and was admitted to a hospital in Kalyan.

In the second case, Rashmi Rathod 20 was hit by a coconut thrown at her from the railway tracks between Santacruz and Khar stations at around 10.55 pm on Wednesday night. She was travelling on the footboard of a Churchgate-bound local when she was hit by the missile above her left eye. She sustained minor injuries and was admitted to Bhabha Hospital in Bandra W.

In the third case,Anant Kumar Sharma 40 injured his hand after he was hit by a stone flung at him near Mumbra railway station on Monday evening. Sharma had boarded the Ambernath local at CST and was sitting near the window when a stone flew in and broke the pane, injuring him.

Deputy Commissioner of Police T S Bhal said the railway police are investigating all the cases.

Meanwhile, the railway police recorded a breakthrough in one case with the arrest of a nine-year-old boy for injuring a motorman at Mahim on Sunday night.

The boy was arrested on Sunday night itself after an investigating team from the Mumbai Central police station was given a physical description of the boy by a local slum resident. The eyewitness, who had earlier reprimanded the boy for throwing stones, lived in the same hutments near the railway tracks at Mahim. A stone flung by the accused had injured 49-year-old motorman Krishnakumar Gupta on his head while he was driving the Churchgate-bound 660 slow local near Mahim railway station.

The boyhas been sent to the Umarkhadi remand home.