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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.

‘How there was no blood if she fell from 14th floor?’

Updated: Mar 21, 2025

Disha Salian’s father’s allegations against Aaditya Thackeray hits up politics

Disha Salian

Mumbai: Satish Salian, the father of a celebrity manager Disha Salian, has raised several questions regarding her suspicious death in his petition to the Bombay High Court.


“Overall, looking at the entire investigation, I think it is murder,” Salian told Republic TV. “Because a person's body falls from the 14th floor, but still there is not a single injury visible on that person's body. There is no injury anywhere on the head, so how can this happen? We need to think about this. Even if a body falls from the 14th floor, how can that body remain clean?"


Salian produced photographs and videos of Disha’s dead body for the first time since her death on June 8, 2020. Her head and face are seen clean without any injury mark. In their investigation, the Mumbai Police had concluded that she had jumped from her 14th floor apartment in Malad.


Salian said, “There was no pressure on me from anyone. However, I was convinced that way. Also, I had faith that Disha’s friends who were present at the party on that night would never lie about what happened. Also, the police had told us at that time that it was a suicide. We had trusted the police then.”


He said then Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar had come to his house and convinced him that Disha had ended her life.


Salian’s lawyer Nilesh Ojha said from the first days of the incident, Satish Salian had the same question that not a single drop of blood was seen after falling from the 14th floor. Also, not a single drop of blood was found on the clothes. “The most important thing is that when Disha Salian's body was handed over to her family, there was no injury on her body. Then how come there was no injury after falling from the floor of the building? This is the question,” said Ojha.


Ojha, told ANI, “During the murder, Uddhav Thackeray's government was there (in Maharashtra), and the accused was his son Aaditya Thackeray. The corrupt police officials tried to cover up the case. After 2.5 years, Shinde's government came, and Fadnavis was the Home Minister. This matter has not come all of a sudden.”


He further added, “On 12th January 2024, a written complaint was filed accusing Aaditya Thackeray, Sooraj Pancholi and others of gang rape. FIR was not registered for more than one year. The affidavit filed by Aaditya Thackeray stated lies that he was given a clean chit by the CBI in the case. There is also proof that Anil Deshmukh didn't want any action (on Aaditya Thackeray).”


As this happened, Ojha said that Disha's father approached him to file the petition. "Nothing happened, but the conversations around it made Disha Salian's father realise that he had been lied to, and he came to us. After that, his petition was drafted and filed," he said.


Demanding that the police officials who failed to register an FIR be penalised, Ojha said that action must also be taken against the SIT official as per the Supreme Court's guidelines on rape and murder cases. Otherwise, the concerned police officials must be penalised as per the relevant sections of IPC. In this case, they have failed to register a case in over a year. This is a serious matter, and action must be taken against the SIT official, he said.


"The affidavit filed by Aaditya Thackeray stated lies that he was given a clean chit by the CBI in the Disha Salian case...Anil Deshmukh also didn't want any action (on Aaditya Thackeray)," Ojha added.


Reacting to Salian's plea, Kishori Pednekar called it a conspiracy. “Someone is behind it, and there is a conspiracy. How come this matter has come under the spotlight after more than four years? The CID conducted an enquiry, there is already an SIT (formed to probe the matter),” Pednekar told PTI.


“I was surprised how come this (Salian) issue was not raised in the last 2-3 sessions. There is nothing new in it as this issue has been raised repeatedly in the House in the past. There is no substance in this issue. But if politics is being done in such a bad way then it will hurt everyone. I want to tell these people that if you want to turn falsehoods into truth, then it will also boomerang on you.”

Uddhav Thackeray, Chief, Shiv Sena (UBT)


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