A Railway Protection Force (RPF) constable shot dead four people, including an Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI), on board a train travelling from Jaipur to Mumbai near the Palghar district, informed an official.
The constable fired from his automatic weapon, killing an RPF Assistant Sub Inspector and three other passengers of the Jaipur-Mumbai Central Express shortly after 5 am, the official said.
"At around 6 am we got to know that an RPF constable, who was on escorting duty opened fire...Four people have been shot dead...Our railway officer reached the spot. The families have been contacted. Ex-gratia will be given," DRM Neeraj Kumar said.
He confirmed that Constable Chetan Kumar Choudhary shot at his escort duty incharge ASI Tika Ram Meena. After killing his senior, the constable went to another bogie and shot dead three passengers, the official added. One of the dead has been identified as Asghar, a resident of Bihar.
According to the reports, the incident took place on the B 5 coach of the Mumbai Central SF Express train (12956) at 5:23 am near Mira Road station under the Palghar district Maharashtra. Palghar is around 100 km from Mumbai.
The accused got down from the train at Dahisar station by pulling the emergency chain after the incident, however, he was detained by the Mumbai Railway Police at the Bhayandar station. The accused was posted in Lower Parel workshop.
CPRO Western Railway said, "An unfortunate incident has been reported today in Mumbai-Jaipur Superfast Express. An RPF constable, Chetan Kumar opened fire on his colleague ASI Tikaram Meena and during the incident, three other passengers were also shot. According to a preliminary investigation, he opened fire using his official weapon. The accused has been arrested. The reason for the firing is not clear yet, we are investigating it."
The reason behind the firing is yet to be ascertained, Railway Police Commissioner and senior officers have reached Borivali GRP Police Station where they are interrogating the accused.
ASI Tika Ram will be provided a compensation of approximately Rs 5.5 lakh. Pravin Sinha, IG, RPF claimed that the accused, who was recently back from a vacation, was hot-headed.
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