55-year-old man dies four days after being attacked on local train between Khadavli and Vasind

While returning home around 2am they boarded the Kasara local from Shahad railway station. Dattatray and Pradeep were reminiscing about the old days and started laughing. At that time, the accused who were seated on the opposite bench and who were in an inebriated state, thought they were making fun of them

THANE: A 55-year-old railway passenger, a resident of Khardi, died four days after he was stabbed and assaulted with a belt by two alleged drug addicts onboard a local train between Khadavli and Vasind railway stations on April 28.

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According to police, a joke shared between the passenger, Dattatraya Bhoir and his friend Pradeep Shirose, took a violent turn when the accused identified as Tanuj Jumwal and Amol Pardeshi mistook it as a dig at them. Both of them got up and stabbed and attacked Bhoir and his friend Pradeep. Video of the brawl went viral on social media and the police have arrested both the accused.

Dattatraya was treated in a private hospital where he died during treatment on Thursday night whereas Shirose sustained minor injuries in the incident.

According to police officials, Bhoir and Shirose had come to Ulhasnagar on Monday for a haldi ceremony at their friend’s place. While returning home around 2am they boarded the Kasara local from Shahad railway station. Dattatray and Pradeep were reminiscing about the old days and started laughing. At that time, the accused who were seated on the opposite bench and who were in an inebriated state, thought they were making fun of them.

The police officers said, “Thinking that Dattatray Bhoir was laughing at him and making fun of him, Pardeshi questioned Dattatray. Bhoir advised Amol to keep quiet saying that he was not making fun of him. As Amol, and his three other accomplices were high on liquor and drugs, they started quarrelling with Bhoir and Shirose and abused them.”

They added that other passengers tried to pacify the accused. “All the four accused who were under the influence of liquor suddenly started beating Dattatray Bhoir mercilessly. One of the accused stabbed Dattatraya and seriously injured him. They were threatening other passengers with knives and throwing them out of the coach,” said a police officer.

Shirose, who also got injured, immediately called their friends and called them near Khardi station. The friends were accompanied by the Railway Protection Force personnel who arrested two accused, but the other two fled.

Senior Police inspector, P Kande said, “We immediately arrested the accused who were sent to magistrate custody, but since Bhoir died, we registered a murder case and arrested them again under IPC section 302. The accused are unemployed residents of Ambivali and are always high on drugs. The knife has been recovered from the accused. Further investigation in the matter is going on.”

Bhoir was a farmer and stayed with six members of his family in Shahapur. His nephew Subhash Bhoir said, “My uncle had been to Ulhasnagar with some of his friends and while he was returning the accused themselves started the scuffle. One of them once pushed my uncle’s friend to start a fight but initially, he ignored it. Later they got another reason and started fighting with our uncle and his friends. My uncle very rarely travels by train, so he didn’t know whom to complain to immediately or what to do. The accused also snatched phones from my uncle and his friends. My uncle was trying to stop one of the furious accused who was trying to attack my uncle’s friend but, in the process, the accused stabbed my uncle. He suffered injuries on his stomach and lost blood. The accused clearly started this scuffle to rob the uncle’s group because they first snatched all of their phones. We really want strict action in the matter and surveillance of the police in the nighttime to control such incidents.”