RPF constable killed ASI, 3 passengers on moving train

In Maharashtra, a Railway Protection Force (RPF) constable on Monday shot dead four persons on board a running train near Palghar railway station. 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. Palghar is around 100 km from Mumbai. The constable opened fire on his escort duty in-charge ASI Tika Ram Meena in the running train, the official said. 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."Four casualties, including the ASI, have been reported in the firing incident inside the Jaipur-Mumbai Central Superfast Express (12956). The accused has been arrested. DCP North GRP has been informed," the Railway Protection Force has said.

Tikaram Meena was a resident of Rajasthan's Sawai Madhopur, and Chetan Singh is from Hathras in Uttar Pradesh. Two other RPF jawans were accompanying them, and the police is recording their statements, they said.  Western Railway's (WR) chief public relations officer Sumit Thakur informed that the accused constable was attached to the Lower Parel RPF post, while ASI Tika Ram Meena was attached to the Dadar RPF post. Thakur said an alarm chain pulling happened in the train near Dahisar station, where the accused constable jumped and ran away, before being caught at Mira Road. The train was held up at Borivali station for about an hour from 6.21 am to 7.15 am, before it left from there and reached its final destination Mumbai Central station at 8.07 am, about 1.12 hours late, as per the train's running status.