A passenger reportedly opened fire aboard the Sealdah– New Delhi Rajdhani Express on Thursday evening. No casualties were reported.
New Delhi: A man reportedly opened fire inside the Sealdah Rajdhani express on Thursday evening. According to reports, the accused, identified as 41-year-old Harvinder Singh, boarded the B-8 coach of Sealdah– New Delhi Rajdhani Express from Jharkhand’s Dhanbad with an “improper ticket” and opened fire aboard the train following an altercation with TTE.
Singh, who reportedly works in the Indian Army, was allegedly in an inebriated state at the time of the incident. He was immediately overpowered, deboarded from the train and later arrested, the Railway Police said in a statement, adding that no casualties or injuries were reported in the firing incident.
An official said forensics have collected blood samples from the accused and its being ascertained whether he was intoxicated when he started firing inside the train, adding that the samples have been sent for testing.
Meanwhile, the incident triggered panic among passengers aboard the Sealdah Rajdhani Express. The passengers, who are still in a state of shock following the firing aboard the train, have urged authorities to conduct a thorough search of the locomotive.
More details into the incident are awaited.
In a similar incident in July this, a former Railway Protection Force constable gunned down four passengers aboard the Jaipur Mumbai Central Superfast Express near Maharashtra’s Palghar station following an argument over religious and political beliefs.
The accused, Chetansinh Chaudhary, shot dead his superior, Tikaram Meena, and three passengers on the train on July 31, after an argument over political and religious beliefs escalated.
The accused was later arrested and charged with murder kidnapping, and also booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 153A for inciting enmity between various groups based on religion and other grounds.
The weapon used in the crime by tainted RPF Constable was also seized by the police.
The incident had sparked a heated debate regarding the safety of passengers inside trains and the highlighted the need for mental evaluation of applicants in police and other security forces.