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Jaipur express firing: Dismissed constable to not get severance dues: RPF
On August 14, the Railway Protection Force dismissed Chetan Singh, a constable, from service for shooting his immediate superior and three passengers, all Muslims, on Jaipur-Mumbai Central Superfast Express.
Mumbai: The family of Chetan Singh will not get severance dues as he has been dismissed from the Railway Protection Force (RPF) for allegedly killing four people on a long-distance train on July 31.
On August 14, the RPF dismissed Singh, a constable, from service for shooting his immediate superior and three passengers on Jaipur-Mumbai Central Superfast Express.
“With his (Singh) dismissal, he no longer belongs to our force. As per the rules, he is not eligible for any monetary dues and compensation,” said a senior RPF officer.
Usually, the constabulary force gets around ₹30,000 to ₹40,000 per month apart from allowances. There are benefits too that they are given during the course of employment. Singh had joined the RPF in 2009 and earlier this March, was posted in Mumbai.
Born in Ratlam, Singh did his schooling there before moving to Mathura after his father’s death. He stayed there in a rented apartment, where his wife and children continue to reside. His mother lives separately in the same city.
The railway police officers claim that Singh’s wife was aware of his health issues, but they had not informed about it at his workplace.
“Chetan would have been transferred to a different department if he was unable to work. Or, his wife could have got the job, if he had told the RPF that he had a health issue,” said an official adding, now, his family will have to face a difficult financial situation.
The RPF authorities are hinting at the possibility that Singh was well aware of what he was doing when he shot dead four people. And that the medicines he was said to be taking were mainly for anxiety.
“It appears as if his actions were well thought of. However, we don’t know what triggered it and he shot his superior officer,” said a senior RPF officer.
Singh allegedly took one of his victims, Sayyed Saifuddin, to the pantry to shoot him as the pantry staff was asleep. He killed Azgar Ali in coach S6 where only he was awake.
Even while killing his other victim, Abdul Kadar Bhanpurwala, other passengers in B5 were asleep and he was standing at the doorway ready to get off with his luggage.
The RPF have also asked for Singh to be questioned for their internal departmental investigation. Sources said that this too will be based on the entire series of events and no different than what is being investigated by the GRP.
Meanwhile, the RPF of Western Railway is looking to address the problem of vacancy. “We have asked the Maharashtra Security Force (MSF) to provide 250 personnel to help our force. We expect this formality to be completed within this month,” said another RPF officer.
The MSF are likely to help the RPF in manning the local trains, railway stations and with other duties within the state.
Sources said that this will not only ease the burden on the RPF, but it will also help them in moving the forces, who are otherwise in the suburban section, for escorting long-distance trains. At present, the vacancy with the WR is around 1,000 of which 350-400 posts are in the Mumbai suburban.
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