A 62-year-old disabled man was pushed to his death from a moving train between Mahim and Bandra stations on Thursday afternoon, after a quarrel over seating. This is the third commuter death in Mumbai’s suburban trains this year, after seemingly routine disputes have quickly escalated into fatal attacks.
The deceased, Cajetan Denis Pires, an amputee and a resident of Santacruz east, was travelling in the Divyangjan coach reserved for commuters with disabilities in a Churchgate-Borivali train, when the incident took place at 1.24pm.
Third fatal attack over a dispute on Mumbai local trains this year
When Pires demanded that he vacate the seat, the two began to argue. The other passengers restrained Shaikh and escorted him to the police after the train halted at Bandra station. Shaikh. When he tried to chase it away, he accidentally pushed Pires out of the train. This is the third death in Mumbai ’s suburban local trains this year, raising red flags about whether overcrowded trains are adding to the stress faced by commuters in an already overstretched metropolis. Lohar and Suvarna argued before Suvarna pulled out a knife from his backpack and repeatedly stabbed Lohar to death on the floor of the compartment.
Shahaji Nikam, senior police inspector, Bandra GRP, said Pires was travelling from Mahim to Santacruz, when he noticed Amajad Safruddin Shaikh, 48, an able-bodied man, seated in the coach reserved for persons with disabilities. Kishore Shinde, assistant commissioner, GRP , said Shaikh has been charged with murder under section 103(1) of the BNS . 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. Roshan Suvarna, 30, who was inebriated, wanted to enjoy the rain While several passengers wanted the door to be shut.
After a heated argument, Shaikh allegedly pushed Pires out of the train, Nikam said. “We arrested Shaikh from the platform,” said Nikam. A pavement dweller near Churchgate, Shaikh told RPF officers that he thought a crow had entered the coach.
