MUMBAI: A petty quarrel in a local train ended with one commuter pushing another out of the moving train at Borivali on Tuesday night, leaving him injured. The incident comes a week after a disabled man died after being pushed from a moving train following a dispute over seating.
Both Shaikh and Pandey are residents of Nalasopara and were returning home after work when the incident took place in the second-class coach of a Virar-bound local between 8.45pm and 9.00pm. In Tuesday’s incident, Rahulkumar Pandey, a salesman at a mobile service provider’s gallery, was arrested after shoving Mohammad Tausif Kalim Shaikh out of a train at Borivali. Shaikh, who works as a carpenter, boarded the train at Goregaon with a friend after finishing work for the day at a site in Dindoshi. Since all the seats in the coach were occupied, Shaikh and his friend began their journey standing near the door.
Pandey boarded the train at Kandivali station and stood in the doorway, blocking entry and exit. Instead, Pandey started arguing with Shaikh. As the train pulled out of the station, Shaikh’s friend intervened, which further enraged Pandey. Since the train was moving slowly, Shaikh escaped with injuries to his hands, legs and thighs. He was initially taken to the emergency clinic at Borivali station and then shifted to Shatabdi Hospital for further treatment. This is the second incident in a week in which a passenger has been pushed off a running local. The deceased, Cajetan Denis Pires, an amputee, was pushed out of the train by an able-bodied commuter travelling in the coach reserved for disabled persons.
On August 20, a 62-year-old differently abled man was pushed to his death from a moving train between Mahim and Bandra stations, during a quarrel over seating. In June, 22-year-old Mayank Lohar was stabbed to death by a co-passenger in a local train between Goregaon and Kandivali stations after they argued over whether or not to close the doors of the train as it was raining. And in January, Alok Singh, 32, a maths teacher at NM College, was fatally stabbed by a co-passenger as the train drew to a halt at Malad station following an argument over right of way in the compartment.
When the train pulled in at Borivali, the next station, Shaikh suggested that Pandey move away from the door, to allow other commuters to board and alight, according to Shaikh’s complaint with the Borivali Government Railway Police (GRP). At this point, he moved towards Shaikh, kicked him in the back, and pushed him out of the train, according to the GRP. “We have arrested the accused and booked him for attempted murder,” said police inspector PS Kande of the Borivali GRP.
