Two constables, Amay Acharya and Narendra Parmar, have been dismissed from the Railway Protection Force (RPF) for their alleged failure to discharge their duty during the shooting incident. The incident had taken place when Constable Chetan Singh reportedly shot down his senior and RPF Assistant Sub-Inspector Tikaram Meena as well as three passengers who were Muslims, Abdul Kaderbhai Bhanpurwala, Sadar Mohammed Hussain and Asghar Abbas Sheikh, on the train near the Palghar station on the outskirts of Mumbai.
The RPF has stated the constables are dismissed as a consequence of their lack in performing their duty and inability to safeguard the passengers during the shooting incident. According to an RPF official, Acharya and Parmar were allegedly observed running for cover instead of intervening when Singh opened fire, leading to their removal from service.
As per the notice for one of them, Acharya had reportedly run to take refuge in the washroom of the coach instead of intervening and stopping the killings after he observed Chaudhary disengaging the rifle’s safety catch, and left ASI Tikaram Meena alone. The other officer, Parmar, reportedly hid behind passengers on the train.
According to the Indian Express, the dismissal order stated, “It was the responsibility of the accused constables on duty to provide security and protection to the passengers. They, however, failed to do the same. The act of the accused constables would erode trust among passengers towards RPF and send a wrong message among other members of the force towards indiscipline.”
The episode took place in the Jaipur-Mumbai Central Express in July 2023. The accused constable, Chetan Singh, aged 34, was fired from his position and arrested by Government Railway Police (GRP) after the incident while attempting to escape after the passengers pulled the emergency chain to bring the train to a stop. The accused cop was also reported to have delivered a hate speech after killing his colleague and has reportedly even spoke in supported of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh chief minister, Yogi Adityanath. He also reportedly had forced a burka clad woman to say Jai Matha Di at gunpoint, as per a report by Sabrang India.
Singh is currently facing serious charges, including the murder under IPC Section 302, along with IPC Section 153A, about promoting enmity between different groups on the basis of religion, race, place of birth, and residence.
Chetan Singh and his family have claimed that he is ‘mentally ill.’ However, reports have suggested a pattern behind Singh’s actions. As per a Hindustan Times report, Wahid Khan, a 45-year-old Muslim auto driver in Ujjain, had alleged that he was previously subjected to unlawful detention, assault, and even threats of being framed as a ‘terrorist’ by the now arrested cop. Wahid Khan, according to the Mint, had even filed a complaint against the officer. Khan had been told, after enquiring and filing an RTI as well, that action had been taken against the officer regarding the chains of harassments that reportedly took place against him in 2016 and 2017. He was also told that the cop was sent to training in Kerala for a year.
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The Visceral Anti-Muslim Hatred of Chetan Singh is Just a Symptom, The Disease is More Widespread