‘I could see him turn his gun towards my wife. I shouted at him’: Witness recalls horror on board Jaipur-Mum Exp

The witness recounted in detail the panic that had spread among passengers on board the Jaipur-Mumbai Superfast Express on July 31, 2023, when RPF constable Chetan Singh Chaudhary allegedly shot dead his senior and three identifiably Muslim passengers

Mumbai: An eyewitness to the shootout on board the Jaipur-Mumbai Superfast Express on July 31, 2023 recalled on Tuesday the nightmare that Muslim passengers on the train underwent when RPF constable Chetan Singh Chaudhary allegedly shot dead his senior and three identifiably Muslim passengers.

Chetan Singh Chaudhary (PTI)

“I saw an RPF officer in uniform entering the coach. He had a machine gun in his hand. I went and stood near my wife. He came closer and was looking at my wife. I could see him turn his gun towards her. She was wearing a burqa. I shouted at him: Kya kar rahe ho (What are you doing)? Other passengers also started shouting,” the eyewitness, whose identity is being withheld due to safety concerns, told the Dindoshi sessions court.

Chaudhary, who gave a speech praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath after the shootings, was subsequently dismissed from service. He was lodged in Akola Central Jail after his arrest and was shifted later to Thane Central Jail as he was undergoing treatment at Thane Mental Hospital.

On Tuesday, Chaudhary was present at the Dindoshi sessions court for his trial. The 35-year-old wore a white t-shirt and khaki trousers, entered the courtroom barefoot, was handcuffed as soon as he stepped outside, and looked expressionless throughout the proceedings. His grey hair, appearance and demeanour were in sharp contrast to his photographs that appeared in the media immediately after the shootout, where he was in uniform and wearing sunglasses.

On Tuesday, during his examination-in-chief by public prosecutor Sudhir Sapkale, the eyewitness told the court that after he and other passengers confronted the armed constable, the latter retreated. The witness then pulled the chain, bringing the train to a halt.

At that point, said the witness, a passenger shouted that Chaudhary had alighted from the train and the door to the coach had been shut from inside.

“We all felt relieved,” the witness said.

Asked if the RPF jawan was in court, the witness pointed towards Chaudhary, who was then asked to stand up and say his name.

The witness recounted in detail the panic that had spread among passengers that night. He was seated on a side lower berth near the door of coach S5, he said, when he saw a woman approaching him, screaming: “Koi hai? Kisine kisiko maar dala (Is someone there? Someone has killed someone else).”

The witness said he asked her if the person had died, to which she replied angrily: “Goli maarega to marega hi na? (If a bullet is fired, won’t the person die?).”

He then got up to be where his wife was. Soon after sat on a nearby berth, he saw Chaudhary enter the coach.

When the train finally halted at Borivali Station, the witness alighted with his family. It was only after this that he heard that three or four people on the train had been shot.

“We were in tension so we left immediately,” he told the court.

The statement of the eyewitness was recorded on August 5.

When defence lawyer Jaywant Patil told the witness that he had been able to identify Chaudhary only because his photographs had appeared in the media, he retorted: “I can’t lie; I have sworn on God that I will tell the truth. He was right in front of me, closer than even you are.”