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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

Mumbai local train murder stuns commuters

Mumbai: A routine commute to home on a dark rain-soaked night in a Mumbai local turned into a nightmare when a 22-year-old commuter was allegedly stabbed to death inside a first-class compartment following a heated argument over shutting the train door, late on Tuesday. The victim, identified as Mayank Lohar, 22, worked as a salesman with a private company in Andheri and lived in Virar, nearly 60 km from Churchgate. According to Western Railway (WR) and Government Railway Police (GRP)...

Mumbai local train murder stuns commuters

Mumbai: A routine commute to home on a dark rain-soaked night in a Mumbai local turned into a nightmare when a 22-year-old commuter was allegedly stabbed to death inside a first-class compartment following a heated argument over shutting the train door, late on Tuesday. The victim, identified as Mayank Lohar, 22, worked as a salesman with a private company in Andheri and lived in Virar, nearly 60 km from Churchgate. According to Western Railway (WR) and Government Railway Police (GRP) officials, the shocking incident took place aboard the Churchgate-Nalasopara Fast Local (Train No. 90663), which left Churchgate at 10.05 pm and reached Andheri at 10.42 pm. As the train pulled out of Andheri, heavy rains started lashing the city. Lohar reportedly requested a fellow commuter standing near the doorway to shut the door, as rainwater was blowing into the compartment and inconveniencing those seated inside. The other commuter, wearing a dark shirt and trousers, allegedly refused and it started a heated verbal exchange which quickly escalated into a raging argument as the train raced through Goregaon and Malad. Then, in a horrifying burst of violence, the suspect allegedly pulled out a knife and repeatedly stabbed Lohar in the abdomen and chest as the train zoomed past Kandivali. Stunned Silence The other terrified commuters watched in stunned silence as the attack unfolded and ended within a matter of minutes claiming the young boy. Writhing in pain and bleeding profusely, Lohar collapsed onto the compartment floor as panic gripped the passengers and they scrambled away from the attacker, who reportedly continued to pace about menacingly. Eyewitnesses later said that as the train slowed while entering Borivali station’s Platform No. 6, the suspect calmly jumped off, ran up the staircase and vanished into the wet darkness. When the train halted at Borivali at 11.04 pm, the other commuters immediately alerted railway authorities. WR, GRP and medical personnel rushed to the platform within minutes with emergency equipment, medicos, porters and a stretcher. Lohar was first rushed to the station’s Emergency Medical Room, where a doctor examined him and declared him dead. His body was later shifted to Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Shatabdi Hospital in Kandivali for post-mortem and other legal formalities. Special Teams The brutal killing sent shockwaves across Mumbai’s suburban rail network. In the morning, Borivali GRP Senior Police Inspector Datta Khuperkar said seven special teams were formed and nearly 400 CCTV camera feeds were scrutinised to trace the suspect. The attacker was captured on multiple surveillance cameras, cool and casual, without a hint of remorse, walking out of Borivali station after the attack. Following an intensive 14-hour manhunt, he was tracked down and arrested at Panvel in Raigad. The Borivali GRP has registered a murder case and launched a detailed investigation. As news of the shocking crime spread amid Wednesday’s torrential rains, commuters expressed outrage and disbelief that a trivial dispute over closing a train door could culminate in such a savage killing. Pall of gloom in Virar Early Wednesday morning, the Lohar family of Virar was devastated on learning about the horrifying killing of their favourite child, Mayank in a train altercation. His parents, three brothers and a sister could barely speak, with his wailing mother demanding “he must be hanged”. Consoling each other, one sister lamented how he was a quiet boy, rarely stepped out of the house without any reason and had his entire life before him that was snuffed out. Venting their ire, they asked “where was the police, why the other commuters didn’t help him” and warned that today it was their son, “next it can be anybody’s son”. The massive dragnet Barely hours after the brutal killing of Mayank Lohar, the Borivali GRP launched one of the biggest manhunts to track and apprehend the suspected killer from Panvel in Raigad district. He was later identified as one Roshan Suvarna, 30, of Mira Road, running a barcode business, informed Borivali GRP Senior Police Inspector Datta Khuperkar. “We formed seven teams with around 10 police personnel supervised by 15 officers. They scanned footage from over 400 CCTVs to trace the regular movements of the accused. The GRP stations of Borivali, Andheri, Mira Road and Nalasopara were involved in the search. We deployed tech-intel to scour his mobile and with help of our network of informers, finally caught him in Panvel,” a weary but victorious Khuperkar told ‘The Perfect Voice’. He added that after completing the legal and medical formalities, he will be produced before a Borivali Court for remand.

Baramati Police refuse FIR as well, Rohit Pawar vows to fight

Mumbai | Pune: Baramati Taluka Police on Thursday refused NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar’s demand to file an FIR over the plane crash that killed former Deputy CM Ajit Pawar in January. Rohit Pawar was accompanied by his cousin Yugendra Pawar and their supporters as they approached Baramati Police. Even after one-and-a-half hours of heated discussion, police officials did not agree to file an FIR but only accepted a written complaint.


Rohit Pawar had a similar experience at Marine Drive Police Station on Wednesday.


What happened

Outside the station house in Baramati, an agitated Rohit Pawar said the police maintained that the CID, AAIB and DGCA were already investigating the crash.


“The police have transferred their accidental death report case to the CID, which is probing it now. Our demand is to register a case against the officials of DGCA, the Learjet owners VSR Ventures Pvt. Ltd., and also the handler, Arrow Aviation Services, for giving false information on the prevailing weather conditions at Baramati that day. However, the police have not lodged the FIR,” alleged Rohit Pawar.


He argued that the AAIB will confine itself to the technical aspects of the crash and would not examine the alleged criminal angles leading to the tragedy.


“We raised the DGCA’s (Tuesday) report grounding five Learjets of VSRVPL for non-compliance with approved procedures pertaining to airworthiness, air safety and flight operations. If there were issues with the aircraft, then why was it chartered to Ajit Pawar?” Rohit Pawar asked.


The Jamkhed–Karjat MLA reiterated his demand for the resignation of Civil Aviation Minister K. Rammohan Naidu until the probe into the Baramati disaster is completed.


Supporters join the Pawars

Over a hundred lawyers and senior members of the local Bar Association, plus a large number of Pawar supporters, trooped to the Baramati Taluka police station, raising slogans and demanding justice for Ajit Pawar as Rohit and Yugendra arrived.


Rohit Pawar claimed that despite answering all police queries and asserting their legal rights, officers remained unmoved.


“Some of the police officials had become emotional; we noticed that they were ready to cooperate but were under some pressure from outside,” he alleged.


Yugendra Pawar joins clamour

Backing Rohit Pawar, Yugendra Pawar demanded that the police must register an FIR against VSRVPL, and expressed confidence that the Baramati Police would ‘give us justice 100 percent’.


“A large number of admirers of Ajit Pawar have spontaneously arrived here and it is the demand of the masses to file the FIR, take proper action against those concerned and ensure justice for our great leader whom we lost in the air crash,” Yugendra Pawar said.


Among the crowd, many raised concerns about how ‘certain forces’ were allegedly blocking the FIR They had suspicions of a possible conspiracy.


CID investigation

The Pune-headquartered Crime Investigation Department (CID) on Thursday said that it was probing multiple angles, including criminal conspiracy, criminal negligence and illegal omissions behind the Jan. 28 Baramati air-crash.


“The Baramati Taluka Police have registered an ADR (No. 11/2026), under Section 194 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. We are investigating different angles, including a criminal conspiracy, criminal negligence or rash act and criminal illegal omissions to determine whether it was an accident or a plot,” Additional Director General of Police, CID, Sunil Ramanand told mediapersons.

 

“The probe is underway at the right pace and proceeding in the right direction… The investigations are being done most professionally. We have a big team and are taking help from various other agencies,” he said.

 

He added that when AAIB releases its report, it will be ‘factored in’ for the CID probe.

 

“Our focus is solely on the criminal aspects. Certain aspects have come to our notice… and more may emerge as the probe progresses,” said Ramanand. 

 

 

 


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