The shocking murder of four people by a Railway Protection Force (RPF) constable aboard a train from Jaipur to Mumbai was the subject of a week-long denial of any communal connection, but now the railway police has added legal provisions relating to inciting hatred between groups based on religion to the case against him. The Government Railway Police (GRP) added Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which relates to promoting animosity between different groups on the basis of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., to the First Information Report, or FIR, against accused RPF Constable Chetan Singh. During the accused’s remand today, the police gave the court a report. The accused has been in police detention until August 11, according to the court.
IPC Section 302 (murder), the Arms Act, Sections 3, 25, and 27, and the Railways Act are also included in the FIR. Soon after the horrifying incident, a video of Chetan Singh aboard the train, appearing to have been captured by passengers, showed the man’s bleeding body laying at his feet while he delivered a communal speech in which he mentioned Pakistan and domestic political matters. The accused proceeded on a diatribe in the video, which NDTV is unable to independently verify, in which he named Pakistan, Indian media, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, and “Thackeray.” The validity of the footage has not yet been disputed by authorities.
In the video, he is heard saying, “…If you want to vote, if you want to live in India, then I say, Modi and Yogi, these are the two, and your Thackeray” (…If you want to vote, if you want to live in India, then I say, Yogi and Modi, these are the two, and your Thackeray”). Chetan Singh killed three individuals, three of whom were Muslims. After killing three passengers, Abdul Qadirbhai Mohammed Hussain Bhanpurwala, Akhtar Abbas Ali, and Sadar Mohammed Hussain, the accused then shot his supervisor, Sub-Inspector Tika Ram Meena.
Soon after the crime, the defendant was sent for a “mental health assessment”. While dismissing the communal angle – raised by videos and posts on social media – and pointing out that the accused had also shot Hindus, including his own boss, Railway Ministry sources indicated that a “comprehensive mental and psychological health assessment” of the RPF troops was being conducted.
Asaduddin Owaisi, the leader of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and a Lok Sabha representative from Hyderabad, had previously released the video and stated, “This is a terror act that specifically targeted Muslims. It is the result of ongoing anti-Muslim hate rhetoric and @narendramodi’s refusal to stop it. Will the accused #RPFJawan run for office in the future for the BJP, he continued? Will the government support his bail? Will he receive a welcome when released?
