Train opened fire in July 2023: Trial begins with Mumbai court recording statement of first witness | Mumbai news

Mumbai, More than 15 months after four people were shot dead on a Mumbai-bound train, allegedly by an RPF officer, the hearing of the case began on Monday with a city court recording the statement of the first witness who identified the weapon used in the incident. crime. RPF constable Chetansinh Chaudhary, the sole accused in the case and later suspended, is accused of fatally shooting his superior, Deputy Sub-Inspector Tika Ram Meena, and three passengers on the Jaipur-Mumbai Central Superfast Express while the train was in motion. on the outskirts of the city. The first witness, who was also a suspended Railway Protection Force employee, was with Chaudhary at the time of the shooting. He is also the complainant in the case. On the opening day of the hearing, the evidence presented by the complainant was recorded before Additional Sessions Judge ML More. During his examination, the witness identified the weapon used in the crime. According to Chaudhary’s lawyer Jaywant Patil, the witness’s statement was recorded in the absence of the accused as he could not be contacted via video conferencing from the jail due to technical reasons. The suspended RPF officer is being held in a jail in eastern Maharashtra’s Akola district, about 550 kilometers from Mumbai. The witness will be cross-examined by defense lawyers on November 27, the next day of the hearing. Chaudhary has been charged under sections 302, 153-A and other sections of the Indian Penal Code, as well as relevant provisions of the Railways Act and the Maharashtra Prevention of Destruction of Property Act. The collision took place around 5 am on July 31, 2023, on the moving Jaipur-Mumbai Central Superfast Express, when the train was near Palghar railway station. Chaudhary was caught with his gun while he was trying to escape after passengers pulled the chain of the train stopping near Mira Road station. According to the police, RPF police shot dead ASI Meena and another passenger in bus B5 with his automatic weapon. He then shot at another passenger in the pantry car of the train and another person in the S6 car next to the buffet car, killing both of them.