Mumbai: For the first time since his trial began in November 2024, former Railway Protection Force (RPF) constable Chetan Singh Chaudhary was present in person in court on Monday. Clad in a t-shirt and trousers, the 35-year-old who made headlines after allegedly shooting down his senior and three identifiably Muslim passengers on board the Jaipur-Mumbai Superfast Express on the night of July 31, 2023, presented a picture of docility as he was led into and out of the courtroom by policemen.
Singh, earlier lodged in Akola Central Jail, was undergoing treatment at Thane Mental Hospital earlier this year, and is currently lodged in Thane Central Jail. The court on Monday passed an order barring his transfer back to Akola without its permission.
Singh’s former colleague, dismissed RPF head constable Narendra Parmar, a crucial eye witness, started his deposition with a long hard look at Singh. Though Parmar looked at the accused often during his deposition, Singh looked blank and distant throughout.
Parmar’s examination in chief by additional public prosecutor Sudhir Sapkale was left incomplete in March because a hospitalised Singh could not be present in court, even through video conferencing. When it resumed on Monday, Parmar described the chilling encounter between Singh and one of his victims, as well as the fear that gripped passengers as the armed cop moved from compartment to compartment.
Parmar had earlier deposed that he had seen Singh take with him a bearded, kurta-clad passenger at gunpoint. He later saw the passenger’s body lying in a pool of blood on the floor near the pantry car.
As he followed Singh, said Parmar, he saw him stop and talk to another bearded passenger wearing a grey kurta. Parmar could hear him “begging for mercy” and telling Singh: “I am an ordinary Mullaji. I too believe in God. Bhagwan and Allah are the same.”
Singh looked angry at that moment, said Parmar, adding: “I felt he would kill me too.”
This time too, said Parmar, there were passengers between him and Singh, as well as behind Singh. Hence, though he was carrying a pistol, he could not prevent Singh from firing two bullets into the passenger’s chest.
As he had after the first shooting, Parmar called his colleague Amey Acharya, who was in another part of the train, to tell him what had happened and asked him to inform the control room.
The train then came to a halt between Mira Road and Dahisar stations as someone pulled the chain, Parmar said. As he went towards compartment S5, Parmar met guard Vijay Jena who had come there to inquire about what had happened. On the south side of the compartment, they saw two bodies lying on the floor, oozing blood.
One of the passengers, whom Parmar identified as Ibrahim Batatawala, told them that he had pulled the chain because “one of your staff was threatening us”. The passengers, who all seemed scared, also told them that as soon as the train had stopped, Singh had jumped off and was walking along the tracks.
Shaken by what he had seen, Jena asked Parmar to accompany him to the guard’s cabin.
Later, when the train was taken to the Bombay Central railway yard, Parmar showed the spots where he had seen the two bodies to the deputy station superintendent, the police personnel who had come there and the videographer.
In court, Parmar identified the photographs of the two passengers whom he had witnessed being threatened and shot by Singh.
His deposition will continue on Tuesday.