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Jaipur Express firing: Colleagues identify fourth victim after 18-hour search
When the victim’s colleagues enquired with the police about missing Saifuddin, they were asked to look at CCTV footage, however, they could not see the missing man. Eventually, around 1am on Tuesday, the policemen showed them the photos of the victims when the colleagues realised that Saifuddin was killed
MUMBAI: The colleagues of Sayed Saifuddin, one of the four victims of the firing incident onboard Jaipur-Mumbai Central Superfast Express, searched for him in and around Borivali railway station for over 18 hours after the Railway Protection Force (RPF) constable Chetan Singh allegedly killed his superior and three others onboard the long-distance train early in the morning on Monday.
When the victim’s colleagues enquired with the police about missing Saifuddin, they were asked to look at CCTV footage, however, they could not see the missing man. Eventually, around 1am on Tuesday, the policemen showed them the photos of the victims when the colleagues realised that Saifuddin was killed. The victim’s brother in Hyderabad was informed about this.
Saifuddin’s family members on Wednesday claimed his body from Bhagwati Hospital in Borivali and took it to their native place in Karnataka’s Bidar.
Saifuddin was travelling from Ajmer to Mumbai along with his employer Jaffar Khan. Khan said that he and Saifuddin were asleep at 5am and were woken up by Singh, who had come to their coach B-2 and instructed Saifuddin to come along with him.
When Khan objected to his helper being taken away, the man sitting on seat number 63 assured Khan not to worry and relax, saying the policeman must be conducting some enquiry and expect the helper to return in minutes.
Khan waited for Saifuddin to return and did not get off at Borivali and proceeded to Mumbai Central. Khan, who is an elderly person and cannot walk on his own, told the police that at Mumbai Central station he enquired about Saifuddin, but he was asked to enquire at Borivali station.
The businessman from Andheri then proceeded to his house in Oshiwara and sent two of his employees to look for Saifuddin at Borivali railway station.
The men searched for Saifuddin at the station till 1am on Tuesday. “We asked the police also about him, but we were told to look at CCTV recordings. We accordingly watched the recordings, but did not find him,” one of Khan’s employees said.
Eventually, the police showed them the photos of the firing victims and found out that Saifuddin was one among them. The police ascertained the identity of the victim from his Aadhaar card his colleagues were carrying. Khan then informed Saifuddin’s brother in Hyderabad about his death.
“We left from Hyderabad and came to Bhagwati Hospital and took Saifuddin’s body. However, since the post-mortem reports did not contain Saifuddin’s name, we were at the hospital till 10am on Wednesday,” Saifuddin’s cousin said.
Saifuddin, who stayed in a rented flat in Hyderabad along with his wife and three daughters, had been working for Khan as a helper and often took him to Ajmer dargah.
His relatives said this is “definitely a hate crime, as no other passengers on the train were targeted. In one of the viral videos, it can be seen that Singh was kicking the body of Asgar Ali, while recording his monologue on phone cameras,” the relative added.
Meanwhile, the Borivali Government Railway Police (GRP) officials said that the family members of Singh reached Mumbai on Wednesday. “Singh’s brother and relatives have arrived. We are in the process of recording their statements,” an official said. They added that Singh’s family maintains that he had a blood clot in his brain.
