Cotton Green case: Watchmen thought trio was stealing from parked truck

The two watchmen, who alerted the police and led to the arrest of the trio who raped a 21-year-old in a truck at Cotton Green, initially suspected they were stealing objects from the vehicle parked in the Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) area.

The two watchmen, who alerted the police and led to the arrest of the trio who raped a 21-year-old in a truck at Cotton Green, initially suspected they were stealing objects from the vehicle parked in the Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) area.

“My colleague noticed some unusual activity inside a truck. While one of the men entered the truck, two others were standing outside. When we went closer, we realized there was a woman inside and sensed something was suspicious,” said a watchman (name withheld to protect identity).

“On seeing my colleague, one of them fled. But my colleague managed to catch hold of the other two. The duo was trying to attack him, but by then I reached the spot and held one of them,” he said.

“After holding on to both of them, my colleague told me to chase the one who had fled. He ran towards the tracks from Cotton Green station and moved towards Reay Road station. When I was

chasing him, he threw a stone at me. I ducked. But he hurled another stone at me, which hit me in the waist. Although I did not stop, I was scared because I was running along the tracks,” he said.

On realizing that a train was approaching, he moved away from the tracks, took his bike and started chasing the accused. “I could have caught him, but he escaped near the line-crossing,” he said.

“By the time I went back to the spot, the police had taken away the two accused. They then caught the third accused late at night. We then went to police station to give our statements at 3am,” he said.

RD Shinde, additional commissioner, central region, Mumbai said the two watchmen will be felicitated for their efforts.