Train firing: Dismissed RPF man's bail rejected; was in well settled position, mind, says court
Mumbai, Dec 16: A court here on Saturday denied bail to dismissed Railway Protection Force (RPF) constable Chetan Singh Chaudhary, accused of shooting dead his senior colleague and three passengers on a moving train in July this year, by stating he was in a "well settled position and mind" at the time of crime.
His bail was rejected by Additional Sessions Judge (Dindoshi Court) AZ Khan who held the offence was serious.
Chaudhary not only killed his senior but also three others of a "particular community" by making them specific targets, the court said.
The accused uttered words which clearly show "he was in a well settled position and mind to commit murder of people belonging to a specific community", the court said while rejecting his bail plea.
Chaudhary, who is lodged in a jail in Maharashtra's Akola, about 550 kms from here, was present in the court during the hearing.
In his bail plea, filed last month through advocates Amit Mishra and Pankaj Ghildiyal, the accused said he has been suffering from "haunted illusions of the ghostly world", and doing some weird act.
The police had opposed his plea, saying that he appeared to have harboured "anger and grudge" towards a particular community and showed no remorse for the crime committed.
If his bail is granted, it could create a negative image about the law and also create fear, panic and insecurity among certain religious groups, the Government Railway Police (RPF), which is probing the case, had submitted.
Umesa Khatoon, wife of victim Asgar Shaikh, through her advocates Karim Pathan and Fazlurrahman Shaikh, had also opposed Chaudhary's bail, saying the accused is a "terrorist minded person" and "a threat to national security".
"There is prima facie case of four brutal murders committed by the hatemonger accused witnessed by 39 eyewitnesses and virtually witnessed by the entire nation," the advocates submitted.
The incident took place on July 31 on board the moving Jaipur-Mumbai Central Express near Palghar railway station in Maharashtra.
He shot dead RPF Assistant Sub-Inspector Tika Ram Meena and another passenger in B5 coach with his automatic weapon. He then shot dead another passenger in a pantry car and one more passenger in S6 coach next to the pantry car after 5 am.
Chaudhary (34) was later nabbed with his weapon while trying to flee after passengers pulled the chain of the train and got it to halt at Mira Road.
In October, the police filed a chargesheet against Chaudhary.
He has been booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 302 (murder), 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc) and others, as well as relevant provisions of Railways Act and Maharashtra Prevention Of Defacement of Property Act.
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Duleep Trophy: Pacers shine as India B beat India A by 76 runs
Bengaluru, Sep 8: KL Rahul's gumption, which helped him pile a patient fifty, found no resonance among his colleagues as India B pacers led by Yash Dayal pushed India A to a 76-run defeat on the fourth and final day of their Duleep Trophy match here on Sunday.
Chasing 275, India A were bundled out for 198 in their second innings as left-arm seamer Dayal (3/50), with able support from his colleagues Mukesh Kumar (2/50) and Navdeep Saini (2/41), led the India B attack.
Rahul top-scored for 'A' with a 51.
In the first session of the day, India B made 184 all out in their second essay to muster a handy overall lead of 274.
The India A chase began on a shaky note as Mayank Agarwal departed in the second over itself, wafting Dayal away from his body to Nitish Kumar Reddy, who made a wonderful diving catch at second slip.
That brought Riyan Parag to the middle and the right-hander followed the path set on Saturday by Rishabh Pant and Sarfaraz Khan.
Parag took on the bowlers and pacer Mukesh bore the brunt of his aggression, getting smoked for two sixes and the second maximum touched the roof of the Chinnaswamy Stadium over the mid-wicket region.
Parag added 48 runs for the second with a rather subdued Shubman Gill, who was dropped by Nitish Reddy at slips off Mukesh on 16, and 31 came off the former's bat in just 18 balls.
But the approach was tough to sustain considering the kind of assistance the bowlers were getting here, and soon his massive hoick off Dayal took an edge off Parag's bat en route to stumper Rishabh Pant.
Gill (21) departed soon, falling to Saini for the second time in the match and on this occasion, he edged the pacer to Pant.
Dhruv Jurel poked Dayal well outside off-stump to Yashasvi Jaiswal at gully, as India batters perished to a combination of bowlers' persistence on that channel and their own carelessness.
They took the lunch at a queasy 76 for four that soon transpired into 99 for six after the dismissal of Shivam Dube and Tanush Kotian, an hour into the lunch.
However, Rahul batted out 180 minutes 121 balls and milked 42 runs for the seventh wicket with Kuldeep Yadav to delay the inevitable.
The standout shot in an otherwise dour innings was a whistling on drive off Mukesh that fetched him a boundary.
But Mukesh had his revenge soon when Rahul feathered a cut off him to Pant, who completed five catches in this innings, soon after reaching his fifty with a single off Saini.
It effectively signalled the end of the road of for India A, though Akash Deep (43, 42b, 3x4, 4x6) gave a few moments of fun with a cavalier innings.
But beyond the entertainment value, it always was a case of when more than if.
Earlier, resuming from their overnight score of 150 for six India B could only 34 runs more to the total before getting bundled out.
Pacer Akash, whom Sarfaraz Khan carted around for five fours in a row the previous day, found his mojo to add the scalps of Washington Sundar and Saini to complete a five-wicket haul (5/56).
The spell will keep his name floating among the contenders when the selectors sit together soon to pick up squad for two-match Test series against Bangladesh.
