MUMBAI: A Railway Protection Force (RPF) jawan allegedly shot dead his colleague and three other passengers onboard the running Jaipur – Mumbai Superfast Express on Monday morning.
Sources said that the firing occurred after the train crossed Palghar Station following an altercation between the accused and his colleague over some issues. Palghar is around 100 km from Mumbai.
Constable Chetan Kumar Choudhary fired at his colleague ASI Tika Ram Meena with his automatic weapon. He then went to another bogie and shot dead three passengers, Sumit Thakur, the chief spokesperson of Western Railway (WR), said.
The accused constable then tried to escape by pulling a chain and running away at Dahisar station but he was later nabbed at Mira Road by Government Railway Police (GRP) personnel at Mira Road. His weapon was also seized, Thakur said.
ASI Tika Ram Meena was attached to the Dadar RPF post. The accused constable hails from Hathras in Uttar Pradesh and was attached to the Lower Parel RPF post. Both of them were on escort duty. 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 at 2.47 am on Monday.
The bodies of the deceased were taken out of the train at Borivali railway station.
Ex-gratia of Rs 25 lakh has been announced for the kin of deceased ASI Meena. Rs 15 lakh from the Railway Suraksha Kalyan Nidhi (fund) and funeral expenses of Rs 20,000, too, will be paid to Meena's kin.
His kin will also get a sum from the death-cum-retirement gratuity and group insurance scheme.
Asked about compensation for the families of the other three victims of the train firing incident, Thakur said, "Ex-gratia will be given."
(With inputs from PTI)