RPF constable kills ASI, 3 passengers in train

Mumbai: A Railway Protection Force (RPF) constable on Monday shot dead four persons on board a running train near Palghar railway station in Maharashtra, an official said.

Constable Chetan Kumar Choudhary fired from his automatic weapon, killing an RPF Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) and three other passengers of the Jaipur-Mumbai Central Express shortly after 5 am, the official said.

According to a senior police official, the accused RPF constable was mentally unstable.

The constable opened fire on his escort duty in-charge ASI Tika Ram Meena.

After killing his senior, the constable went to another bogie and shot dead three passengers, the official added.

The accused then tried to escape from the train between Mira Road and Dahisar, but was later nabbed by the Government Railway Police (GRP) personnel and his weapon was also seized, he said.

The accused, who hails from Hathras in Uttar Pradesh, is in the custody of the Mira Road railway police, the official said.

The bodies were taken out of the train at Borivali railway station, he said. According to railway officials, four RPF personnel, including constable Choudhary, were escorting the Jaipur-Mumbai Central Express from Surat station in Gujarat on Monday.

The four-member team earlier escorted Dadar-Porbandar Saurashtra Express up to Surat station the previous day. On return journey, the escorting party was guarding the Jaipur-Mumbai Central Express, a senior railway official said. The escort parties generally have four to five personnel of the GRP and RPF in a long distance train.

The Jaipur-Mumbai Central Express departed from Jaipur station in Rajasthan at 2.01 pm on Sunday and reached Surat station, where the escort party boarded the train, at 2.47 am on Monday.