What prompted RPF cop to shoot dead his senior, 3 passengers on Jaipur-Mumbai train?

Tragedy unfolded on the railway tracks on Monday aboard the Jaipur-Mumbai Central Superfast Express near Palghar railway station in Maharashtra when a Railway Police Force (RPF) constable shot dead his senior and three other passengers. Identified to be Chetan Kumar, he was arrested by the Government Railway Police (GRP) as he was trying to escape and has now been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including 302 (murder), and the Arms Act. However, what prompted the 34-year-old RPF constable to take such an action? Is there a communal angle involved? Here’s what we know. What happened aboard the Jaipur-Mumbai Central Superfast Express? In the wee hours of Monday, Kumar shot dead his senior, Tika Ram Meena, and three passengers onboard the Jaipur-Mumbai train. He first attacked his colleague and then went to another bogie and fired at the passengers. Following the shooting, he fled from the train only to be arrested by the personnel of Government Railway Police (GRP). Explaining what happened on the train on Monday, an official said that Kumar first shot dead RPF Assistant Sub-Inspector Tika Ram Meena and another passenger in B5 coach with his automatic weapon after 5 am. He then shot dead another passenger in the pantry car five coaches away and went on to kill one more passenger in S6 coach, which is the eighth bogie from the B5 coach. The passengers who have been murdered have been identified as Abdul Kadarbhai Mohammed Hussain Bhanpurwala, a resident of Nalasopara in Palghar and Asgar Abbas Sheikh of Madhubani in Bihar. The third victim is yet to be identified. [caption id=“attachment_12943212” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] The scene of crime in the Mumbai-Jaipur Superfast Express train where an RPF constable shot dead four persons. PTI[/caption] The Western Railways in a statement later said: “In an unfortunate incident in Train, No 12956 Jaipur-Mumbai Superfast Express escorting staff constable Chetan Kumar shot at his colleague escort in charge ASI Tika Ram. The constable upon shooting his colleague, initially held passengers at gunpoint.” “It is regretted that ASI Tika Ram and three passengers were shot at. Constable Chetan Kumar got down near Dahisar and tried to flee after pulling the alarm chain. But, was arrested by RPF along with the weapon,” the statement added. What was the motive behind the shooting? Now arrested and waiting to be presented before a court, many are wondering what caused Kumar to take this drastic step. Was it a case of a short-tempered person just losing his cool or was it a case of an argument turning deadly. As per the FIR, the accused constable had reported that he was unwell due to which he wanted to be relieved from duty few hours before his shift ended but as his seniors insisted on completing his duty, it agitated him. In the FIR, complainant constable Amay Ghanshyaam Acharya said that the accused had complained of feeling unwell, which is when he was advised to rest. However, after 15 minutes of resting, he woke up and started demanding his rifle. When Acharya refused to give him the weapon, he tried to strangulate him and managed to take the rifle and left the spot in anger, he said. [caption id=“attachment_12943242” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] amily members of Assistant Sub-Inspector Tika Ram Meena, who along with three civilians was shot dead by RPF constable Chetan Kumar onboard the Jaipur-Mumbai Central Express, at Shatabdi Hospital in Mumbai. PTI[/caption] Acharya, speaking to NDTV, added, ““He was holding the rifle and his face was filled with rage. I felt he may shoot me too.” Earlier, there had been suggestions that Chetan Kumar was suffering from mental health issues, with DCP Sandeep Bhajibhakre, GRP west, also saying the accused is mentally unstable. Some of his colleagues also stated that the accused was temperamental; Pravin Chandra Sinha, principal chief security commissioner, of Western Railway had told reporters, “He had a short fuse and lost his temper leading to the incident.” There are also reports that he had faced mental harassment from his colleagues; a claim reiterated by Kumar’s uncle. Bhagwan Singh alleged to The Quint, “Chetan’s colleagues were harassing him for quite some time. They were not transferring him. That’s why he must have taken this step.” Why talk of a communal angle though? Soon after the tragedy, All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Asaduddin Owaisi termed it as a “terror attack targeted at Muslims”, and said it is the product of continuous anti-Muslim hate speech and the “unwillingness” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to put an end to it. “This is a terror attack that specifically targeted Muslims. It is the product of continuous anti-Muslim hate speech & unwillingness of @narendramodi to put an end to it. Will the accused #RPFJawan become a future BJP candidate? Will his bail be supported by the govt? Will he be garlanded when released? Happy to be proven wrong #JaipurMumbaiExpress,” Owaisi tweeted referring to a video by another person circulating on Twitter. The video in question while not verified by any authority until now shows the accused constable being present near the dead bodies and apparently justifying the killings. He can be heard saying in the purported video, “Pakistan se operate hua hain. Tumhari media… yahi desh ko media ye khabrein dikha rahi hai, pata chal raha hai unko, sab pata chal raha hai, inke aaqa hai waha… Agar Hindustan me rehna hai, toh main kehta hun… (They are operation from Pakistan. Your media… This country’s media is showing the news. They know everything, their bosses are beyond the borders… If you have to live in India, then I tell you…)” Even Congress’ Srinivas BV said that the country has been thrown into “fires of hatred”. “This video and every single word spoken of the painful massacre in Jaipur-Mumbai train is enough to describe the present situation of the country,” he wrote on social media platform, X. When queried about the video, GRP commissioner Ravindra Shisve said the clip was being examined along with other materials. The GRP has formed an SIT to probe the incident. “It is too early to jump to any conclusion, and at this stage, it will be premature to comment anything and share any details about the probe,” Shisve said. With inputs from agencies