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"I shouted at the passengers in the coach to close their windows and stay down. I saw that Chetan was pointing the rifle at the train and firing from time to time," claimed Railway Protection Force (RPF) constable Ghanshyam Acharya about his colleague Chetan Singh, who allegedly shot dead four people on board Jaipur-Mumbai Express (12956) on Monday, 31 July.
The 33-year-old RPF officer, Chetan Singh, allegedly fired 12 rounds from his automatic service weapon.
Among the four deceased, three were passengers -- identified as Abdul Kadir in coach B5, Asgar Kai in coach S6, and an unidentified person in the pantry -- while one was the accused's colleague, 58-year-old ASI Tikaram Meena, the Mumbai Railway police confirmed.
A 51-second long purported video from the train, allegedly shot minutes after the incident, has also surfaced online in which the accused can be seen saying, "If you want to live in India, vote only for Modi, Yogi."
Government Railway Police (GRP) commissioner Ravindra Shisve, however, said that the said video is being investigated.
A First Information Report (FIR) was registered on Monday evening at Mumbai's Borivali police station. The Quint has accessed the FIR on the basis of the statement of RPF constable Acharya.
Acharya, 26, who has been working as constable in the RPF since 2020, lives in Lower Parel, Mumbai and hails from Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh.
He said that his team comprising -- ASI Tikaram Meena, PO Hawa Narendra Parmar, 58, and PO Chetan Singh, 33 -- had boarded the Saurashtra Mail from Mumbai Central at 9.05 pm on 30 July as usual before things got awry.
'Took The Train As Usual on Sunday Night'
"We boarded the Saurashtra Mail from Mumbai Central at 9.05 pm as usual on the night of 30 July. The train reached Surat at 1.11am," Constable Acharya claimed in the FIR.
In the FIR, Acharya said that Chetan and him had one ARM Rifle with 20 rounds each, while ASI Meena had one pistol with 10 rounds.
According to the FIR, at 2.53 am, the team boarded the Jaipur Mumbai Superfast Express -- while ASI Meena and Chetan had their duty in the air-conditioned compartment, constables Parmar and Acharya were posted in the sleeper coach.
'Accused Was Unwell, Wanted To Get Off At Valsad'
Half an hour later, when Acharya came to submit his report to ASI Meena in the B/2 AC coach, Meena allegedly told Acharya that Chetan's health was worsening.
"I touched his head to check if he had fever but I could not tell if that was the case," Acharya said in the FIR.
ASI Meena allegedly told Acharya that Chetan said his health was worsening and wanted to be dropped off at Valsad. To this, Meena allegedly asked him to wait until they reach Mumbai three hours later.
When the accused refused to listen, ASI Meena contacted Inspector Harishchandra as well as the Mumbai Central Control Room, which also advised him to wait for the remaining part of his duty and get medical treatment in Mumbai, as per the FIR.
The accused allegedly did not budge and insisted that he speak to the Control Room.
"So, ASI Meena spoke to Assistant Security Commissioner (ASC) Sujit Kumar Pandey, who also asked him to wait. But he was not listening to anyone," Acharya claimed.
Meanwhile, ASI Meena asked Acharya to get some cold drinks for the accused.
'Strangled Constable Acharya, Snatched His Rifle'
ASI Meena then asked Acharya to take the accused's rifle and asked him to rest.
"I took him to B4 bogie. I made him sleep on an empty seat there. I took his rifle and sat on the side seat. But Chetan did not sleep for long. He got up after 15 minutes and started pointing at his rifle and demanded I should give it to him," Acharya alleged in the FIR.
When Acharya asked him to calm down and refused to hand him his rifle, Chetan allegedly got furious, came on to him, and strangled him until he let go of his rifle.
"Immediately after he left, I realised he had taken my rifle by mistake. I informed ASC Pandey and ASI Meena, after which, Chetan returned my rifle and took back his own," said the complainant in the FIR.
Constable Acharya allegedly saw Singh remove the safety latch of his rifle and informed ASI Meena of the same.
"So he approached Chetan and persuaded him to remain calm with affection. After this, I left for Pantry Car D. It was around 5 am on 31 July," Acharya claimed in the FIR.
'RPF Batch Constable, Passengers Told me that ASI was Shot at'
At 5.25 am, Acharya received a call from RPF Batch Constable Kuldeep Rathod that ASI Meena had been shot at. As he rushed towards the B/5 coach, a few passengers scrambling in front allegedly told him that Chetan shot at ASI Meena.
"When I entered B/1 coach, I saw him walking with his rifle, his face still angry. Scared that he might fire at me, I turned back and stopped at the sleeper coach."RPF Constable Ghanshyam Acharya
Ten minutes later, the train stopped between Mira Road and Dahisar railway stations as someone pulled the chain for emergency stop.
'Asked Passengers to Stay Down and Shut Their Windows'
When the train stopped and he looked outside, Acharya allegedly saw Chetan walking down the tracks with his rifle in firing position.
"I shouted at the passengers in the coach to close their windows and stay down. I saw that Chetan was pointing the rifle at the train and firing from time to time," Acharya alleged in the FIR.
Acharya added that he was scared that Chetan might fire at him and hid in the toilet and did not come out until he stealthily saw the accused had started walking towards Mira Road railway station, the rifle still in hand.
Around 15 minutes later, when the train started moving, Acharya entered coach 5/6 and saw a passenger lying in a pool of blood.
"I saw another passenger in the pantry car, injured, and lying in a pool of blood," he said.
At 6.20 am, the Borivali Railway Police along with the RPF took four injured persons -- one from pantry car, one from coach 5/6, and two from coach B/5 including ASI Meena. The four injured had died in the firing.
The accused was arrested on 31 July and an FIR was under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), three sections of the Arms Act and three sections of the Railway police Act, the police said.
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