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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.

Fatal Commute

Mumbai’s lifeline bled again. During Monday’s morning rush, as millions of hapless commuters jostled onto groaning steel carriages that pass for suburban trains, at least five commuters fell to their deaths from an overcrowded local train. A dozen more were flung like ragdolls onto the tracks. Horrific videos of mangled bodies on the tracks went viral even as Central Railway issued boilerplate statements.


The hapless passengers, who were dangling off the footboards of a heaving local train heading to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), lost balance reportedly after their bags brushed against another passing train. That such tragedies occur with such regularity and such little consequence is a damning indictment of Indian Railways’ wilful neglect and the political cowardice that enables it.


The incident was chilling testament to the silent war the working class fights daily for a foothold on a moving train. In a country obsessed with GDP and development, it is morbidly ironic that the cost of earning a living can be one’s life. The gruesome deaths starkly underscore that in India’s richest city, even basic dignity during a commute is a luxury. It speaks volumes about the normalisation of institutional failure.


India’s financial capital has for decades run its railways on a model fuelled by volume and indifference. Every day, 7.5 million people cram themselves into Mumbai’s suburban trains, the city’s vascular system, at double or triple the designed capacity. They hang out of doors, clutch at poles, brace themselves against strangers and hope, desperately, not to fall.


The response from railway officials is as ritualistic as it is ineffectual. An inquiry has been launched. Compensation will trickle in. The tragedy will be politicized by the Opposition and a slanging match will ensue with the ruling Mahayuti. Still others will blame the victims for travelling on footboards while conveniently forgetting that they had no other choice.


What is particularly galling is a contrast. On the same day as the Mumbra tragedy, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis ceremonially flagged off a new luxury ‘Bharat Gaurav’ tourist train to mark the 351st coronation anniversary of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. It had 710 passengers and presumably, enough seats for all. The symbolism is too rich to ignore. Even as Mumbai’s poor die getting to work, its leaders indulge in commemorative pageantry and vanity trains. The Ministry of Railways and the Central Railway administration must now confront uncomfortable truths. Cosmetic upgrades, tourist trains and heritage platforms mean nothing when a basic ride to work turns fatal. The Indian state cannot speak of bullet trains while it fails to protect life at 40 kilometres an hour.


What happened in Mumbra is not merely Mumbai’s shame but India’s as well. This tragedy must serve as a national reckoning. Mumbai does not need any more symbolism. It needs safe, reliable, adequately frequent trains with automatic doors, wider platforms and accountability for negligence. Until then, every ticket punched or railway pass withdrawn is no promise of safe travel but a gamble with death.

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