RPF constable shoots dead senior, 3 passengers on board Jaipur-Mumbai train
Mumbai (PTI): A Railway Protection Force (RPF) constable on Monday shot dead four persons on board a running train near Palghar railway station in Maharashtra, an official said.
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.
The accused, who hails from Hathras in Uttar Pradesh, is in the custody of the Mira Road railway police, the official said.
The bodies were taken out of the train at Borivali railway station, he said.
According to railway officials, four RPF personnel, including constable Choudhary, were escorting the Jaipur-Mumbai Central Express from Surat station in Gujarat on Monday.
The four-member team earlier escorted Dadar-Porbandar Saurashtra Express up to Surat station the previous day. On return journey, the escorting party was guarding the Jaipur-Mumbai Central Express, a senior railway official said.
The escort parties generally have four to five personnel of the GRP and RPF in a long distance train. They provide security to trains in their respective railway divisions and thereafter, counterparts from other divisions take over the responsibility of guarding the trains.
Western Railway's (WR) chief public relations officer Sumit Thakur told PTI that the accused constable was attached to the Lower Parel RPF post here, while ASI Tika Ram Meena was attached to the Dadar RPF post.
The Jaipur-Mumbai Central Express departed from Jaipur station in Rajasthan at 2.01 pm on Sunday and reached Surat station, where the escort party boarded the train, at 2.47 am on Monday.
Before reaching Borivali station in Mumbai at 6.21 am, about 25 minutes late than its scheduled time, the train stopped at its official halt Vapi in Gujarat, from where it departed one minute late at 4.08 am, as per the official running status of the train.
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.
Meanwhile, an ex-gratia of Rs 25 lakh has been announced for the kin of deceased ASI Meena, a senior Western Railway official said.
Meena's kin will be given Rs 15 lakh from the Railway Suraksha Kalyan Nidhi (fund), apart from funeral expenses of Rs 20,000, WR spokesperson Sumit Thakur said.
His kin will also get a sum from the death-cum-retirement gratuity and group insurance scheme, the official said.
Asked about compensation for the families of the other three victims of the train firing incident, Thakur said, "Ex-gratia will be given."
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UDF leaders see local body poll trends as pointer to 2026 Assembly elections in Kerala
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Buoyed by the strong performance of the Congress-led UDF in the local body polls, KPCC president Sunny Joseph said on Saturday that the front's results indicated the people had rejected the LDF government.
According to early trends, the UDF was leading in more grama panchayats, block panchayats, municipalities and corporations than the LDF.
The local body polls were held in two phases in the state earlier this week.
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Speaking to reporters here, Joseph said the people of Kerala had extended their support to the UDF.
"We could expose the LDF government’s anti-people stance and the people understood it. The LDF’s fake propaganda was rejected by the people. The UDF is moving towards a historic victory," he said.
He said a united effort, proper preparations, good candidate selection and hard work had resulted in the Congress and the UDF’s victory in the elections.
Asked about the prospects in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, Joseph said the party was studying the matter and would comment later.
LDF convenor T P Ramakrishnan said the results would be closely examined.
According to him, the government had done everything possible for the people.
"Why such a verdict happened will be examined at the micro level. People’s opinion will be considered and further steps will be taken," he said.
He added that decisions would be taken after analysing the results. "If any corrective measures are required, we will initiate them and move forward," he said.
AICC leader K C Venugopal said the results showed that people had begun ousting those who, he alleged, were responsible for the loss of gold at Lord Ayyappa’s temple.
"This trend will continue in the Assembly elections as well. It is an indication that the people are ready to bring down the LDF government," he said.
Venugopal said the UDF had registered victories even in CPI(M) and LDF strongholds.
"I congratulate all UDF workers for their hard work. Congress workers and leaders worked unitedly," he said.
Referring to remarks made by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan against the Congress on polling day, Venugopal said the voters had responded through the verdict.
"I do not know whether the chief minister understands that the people are against him. Otherwise, he does not know the sentiment of the people. The state government cannot move an inch further," he said.
He said the results indicated a strong comeback for the UDF in Kerala.
Asked whether the Sabarimala gold loss issue had affected the LDF in the local polls, Venugopal said the CM and the CPI(M) state secretary did not take the issue seriously.
"We took a strong stand on the matter. The BJP played a foul game in it," he alleged.
On the BJP's role in the local body elections, Venugopal alleged that the party operated with the CPI(M) 's tacit support.
"The CPI(M) supported the central government on issues such as PM-SHRI, labour codes and corruption in national highway construction. The CPI(M) is facing ideological decline, and the state government’s policies are against the party’s own decisions," he said.
Meanwhile, LDF ally Kerala Congress (M) leader Jose K Mani said the party could not win all the wards it had expected in the elections.
He congratulated winners from all parties and said the party would closely examine the losses and identify shortcomings. "Later, we will take corrective measures," he added.
Senior Congress leader and MP Rajmohan Unnithan said the trends in the local body elections indicated that the UDF would return to power in the 2026 Assembly elections.
"We will win 111 seats as in 1977 and return to power in 2026. The anti-government sentiment of the people is reflected in the elections," he said.
Unnithan said the people were disturbed and unhappy with the present government.
"The trend indicates the end of the LDF government," he added.
CPI(M) MLA M M Mani said the people had shown ingratitude towards the LDF despite benefiting from welfare schemes.
"After receiving all welfare schemes and living comfortably, people voted against us due to some temporary sentiments. Is that not ingratitude," he asked.
Mani said no such welfare initiatives had taken place in Kerala earlier.
"People are receiving pensions and have enough to eat. Even after getting all this, they voted against us. This is what can be called ingratitude," he said.
Muslim League state president Panakkad Sayyid Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal said the results were beyond expectations.
"The outcome points towards the Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram, indicating that a change of government is imminent. We are going to win the Assembly election," he said.
