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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.

Tight Races

Exit polls, like monsoon forecasts, are best treated with scepticism. India’s recent electoral history is littered with confident projections that dissolved on counting day. Yet even allowing for their fallibility, the latest round of projections across four states and one Union Territory offers some clear indications of churn in the east, cautious continuity in the south and consolidation in the north-east.


The most keenly contested and eagerly watched state is West Bengal, where the numbers hint at something approaching change - the very slogan that once carried Mamata Banerjee to power in 2011. After 15 years of Trinamool Congress (TMC) dominance, most exit polls suggest a knife-edge contest with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).


Such a result, if borne out, would mark a structural shift. The BJP, once an afterthought in Bengal’s politics, now appears firmly entrenched as the principal challenger. Its steady expansion over the past decade, organisationally and electorally, has culminated in this moment of near parity. Yet the TMC’s resilience is equally striking. Despite anti-incumbency and an aggressive opposition campaign, it retains deep reservoirs of support, particularly in districts that reported exceptionally high turnout. That record turnout has added a further twist by magnifying volatility and making Bengal the most unpredictable theatre in this electoral cycle.


If Bengal represents churn, Tamil Nadu offers a subtler story. Most exit polls give the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)-Congress alliance a clear edge, pointing to a possible consecutive term for Chief Minister M.K. Stalin. Yet, beneath this apparent stability lies a potential disruptor in form of actor-politician Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), which introduces a wildcard into a historically bipolar system. While most projections stop short of placing TVK at the top, they consistently suggest it is eating into established vote banks. More ambitious estimates suggest the TVK capable of entirely upending Tamil Nadu’s political order.


Further north-east, Assam looks set to defy the broader pattern of flux. Here the story is one of consolidation. Exit polls converge on a decisive victory for the BJP under Himanta Biswa Sarma, with projections suggesting a comfortable majority. Such an outcome would underline the BJP’s entrenched dominance in the state, built on a combination of organisational depth and effective leadership. For the Congress, the figures are less forgiving as it appears unable to overcome structural weaknesses that have long plagued it in the region.


Elsewhere, Kerala and Puducherry hint at further shifts. The CPM-led Left Democratic Front in Kerala may be on its way out, potentially ending the country’s only Left government, while the NDA looks poised to retain Puducherry with ease. The broader lesson is that while national narratives matter, state-specific dynamics like leadership, alliances, caste equations and regional aspirations continue to shape voter behaviour. On May 4, the numbers will either vindicate or embarrass the pollsters. But the signals, however tentative, are already visible.

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