Chetan Singh, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) constable who allegedly gunned down four people on a train not too far from Mumbai on Monday and spoke of “Modi, Yogi and Thackeray”, forced a passenger at gunpoint to walk across two coaches to the pantry car and shot him, an official said on Tuesday.
“RPF constable Chetan Singh forced Syed S., 43, a passenger travelling in B2 coach of the train, to walk at gunpoint up to the pantry car where he shot him dead,” the official said.
The official added: “They crossed coaches, B2 and B1, before reaching the pantry car while other passengers watched.”
Syed was the victim who was not identified on Monday. The announcement of his name on Tuesday confirmed that all three civilians picked out for the killings were Muslim. The other victim was Chetan’s senior, ASI Tika Ram Meena.
Details of the deliberate manner in which the alleged killer chose his victims — the religion of all the three victims was apparent from their appearance — came at a time suggestions have been made that Chetan has mental health issues, something his uncle disputed again on Tuesday.
Bhagwan Singh, the uncle, said on Tuesday in Uttar Pradesh: “Chetan had called me last month and said he was unhappy with the transfer. I had told him to be prepared for such situations if he wanted to do the job. Chetan was absolutely normal but I read a railway official saying that he was mentally disturbed. I want to ask them why they gave him a sophisticated weapon and sent him on duty if such was the situation?”
In Mumbai, seeking Chetan’s custody, the police told the court that the mental health condition of the accused constable was yet to be examined and that he was not cooperating with them.
The court remanded Chetan in the custody of the Government Railway Police (GRP) till August 7. The GRP had sought his custody for 14 days.
The magistrate barred the media in the courtroom citing security reasons. Lawyers not associated with the case were also not allowed to attend the proceedings.
As GRP officials took Chetan to the local court in Borivali from the police station, they used T-shirts and shirts to cover the window panes of their vehicle to shield him from the media glare.
On Monday, an unverified video featuring a purported murder site on the train had shown a man in uniform, his back to the camera, saying in Hindi: “If you want to vote, if you want to live in Hindustan, then I am saying Modi and Yogi, they are the two, and your Thackeray.”
The other murdered passengers were identified as Abdul Kadarbhai Mohammed Hussain Bhanpurwala (58, his age was erroneously mentioned as 48 in Tuesday’s edition), a resident of Nalasopara in Palghar; and Asgar Abbas Sheikh (48), a resident of Madhubani in Bihar.
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said in a tweet that the fourth victim has been identified as “Syed Saifullah, a resident of Bazaarghat, Nampally”, in Hyderabad. He is survived by three daughters and the youngest is six months old, Owaisi said.
The Railway Board has set up a five-member committee to conduct a “comprehensive inquiry” into the train killings. According to railway officials, the panel has been asked to submit its report to the Railway Board in the next three months.
“An ex gratia of Rs 10 lakh has been announced for the passengers who died in this unfortunate incident,” a statement from the Western Railway said.
Hate speeches
In a letter to the Union home minister, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind president Maulana Mahmood Asa’d Madani said it was not an isolated action but a continuation of a hate campaign that has been perpetuated for years.
“This is an alarming situation where those who openly propagate violence against Muslims in Dharam Sansads and slogans consider themselves above the law, with no concrete action taken against them,” he said, citing instances of hate slogans being chanted and TV programmes promoting divisive ideas.
The Left parties alleged that the train attack was “a direct result of the hate speeches” made by those in power.
The CPM said the incident should not be seen as the actions of a disturbed mind. “All the passengers killed were Muslim. The constable went from one coach to another and deliberately targeted Muslims. This is a direct result of the hate speeches being made day in and day out by those in power, demonising the Muslim community and using every abusive word in the dictionary of communalism against them.
“A video which is yet to be authenticated shows that the man... was echoing the language used by BJP leaders,” the CPM said.
What is more alarming is that it clearly shows that such “communal thinking is affecting those officially mandated to provide security”, the party said.
“This condemnable incident is a wake-up call to India that the toxic agenda of the Hindutva forces is leading the country into a deep abyss,” the CPM said.
The CPI said the incident “reflects what RSS has done to our society”. “This great land of Buddha and Gandhi is saturated with hate today. The menace of hate is bulldozing everything our freedom fighters fought for. Hate has to be defeated by harmony if our republic is to survive,” the party added.