Man Arrested for Murder After Commuter Pushed From Train Near Bandra Creek
A 62-year-old passenger with disabilities died on August 20 after being pushed out of a moving local train between Mahim and Bandra following an argument over a seat in a compartment reserved for persons with disabilities.
The Bandra Government Railway Police arrested the accused, identified as 48-year-old Amajad Safriddin Shaikh, and booked him on murder charges.
The victim, Cajetan Denis Peris, resided in Santacruz and had previously lost a leg in an accident while working as a plumber. According to police, the incident occurred around 1:24 pm aboard a Churchgate-Borivali slow local train.
Police said Shaikh, who lived near a dargah in Churchgate East and appeared mentally unstable, boarded the train at Lower Parel in the coach reserved for persons with disabilities. Peris boarded the same coach at Mahim railway station at 1:19 pm. Upon boarding, Peris objected to Shaikh, an able-bodied passenger, traveling in the reserved compartment.
The dispute escalated into a violent altercation as the train traveled between Mahim and Bandra. Shaikh allegedly pushed Peris out of the moving train near Bandra Creek at around 1:22 pm.
Passengers on the train alerted Railway Protection Force personnel when the train arrived at Bandra station platform 1. RPF and Maharashtra Security Force personnel detained Shaikh at the platform and handed him over to the Bandra GRP at 1:26 pm.
Railway police and rescue personnel reached the spot near Bandra Creek at 1:45 pm, where they found Peris severely injured and unconscious on the tracks. He was placed aboard a passing local train, brought to Bandra station, and transported via ambulance to Bhabha Hospital in Bandra West. Attending doctors declared him dead at 3:05 pm during treatment.
Senior Police Inspector Shahaji Nikam of the Bandra Railway Police stated that Shaikh was traveling toward Borivali to obtain food distributed by a charitable organization. Preliminary police findings indicated that neither the deceased nor the accused possessed a valid railway ticket or pass at the time of the incident.
