The accused said he would have killed eight-ten more people. He said his final wish was to go to Pakistan and kill everyone there.
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI — Chetan Kumar Singh, the Railway Protection Force constable accused of killing four persons — three Muslim passengers and one of his seniors — aboard a train last week, has now been booked for promoting enmity too.
The Government Railway Police (GRP) told Mumbai’s Borivli Court on Tuesday that Singh is of sound mental health and hence got custody of him until 11 August, Mid-Day reported quoting its sources.
Earlier on Monday, Singh was produced before the Borivli magistrate court, where he was court remanded in GRP custody.
On 31 July, Singh shot dead the four aboard Jaipur-Mumbai Central Superfast Express. Following the incident, someone pulled the emergency chain and the accused fled from the train. However, he was later caught outside by the GRP officers.
While seeking his custody, the GRP officers told the court they are yet to obtain the CCTV footage of the entire train journey. Apart from this, GRP officers told the court that they wanted to find out if Singh was instigated by someone to commit the crime, the Mid-Day report said.
Apart from the previous charges, the Borivli GRP has added IPC Section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) to the FIR against Singh.
Also, Sections 363 (punishment for kidnapping), 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint), and 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement) of the IPC based on the statement of Jaffar Khan, a witness in the case have been added.
Khan in his statement told the GRP that Singh took one of the deceased passengers Sayed Saifuddin at gunpoint from the B2 coach and shot him at point-blank range near the pantry, added the report.
According to the Mid-Day report, Singh does not have any regrets for killing four innocent people. “Singh told the GRP and the RPF personnel that if the train had not stopped, then he would have killed eight-ten more people. He has said that his final wish is to go to Pakistan and kill everyone there,” the daily quoted a GRP source as saying.
“This is the reason why he refused to undergo a medical check-up by a bearded doctor (an intern) when he was taken to Cooper Hospital following his arrest. He thought he was a Muslim. When other young doctors without a beard were called, he did not protest,” the source added.
However, the secretary of the Borivli Bar Association — Singh’s lawyer Surendra Landage — claimed the RPF constable is mentally unwell. “Singh was not in his senses at the time of the crime,” he maintained.