Jaipur Express shooting incident: Western Railway announces ex-gratia amount for deceased RPF ASI Tikaram Meena’s family

The Western Railways on Monday announced ex-gratia for the next of kin of deceased Railway Protection Force (RPF) ASI Tikaram Meena. The late ASI’s family will get Rs 15 lakh from the Railway Suraksha Kalyan Nidhi, Rs 15 lakh as death cum retirement gratuity and Rs 65,000 as General Insurance Scheme. Besides this, his family will also get Rs 20,000 for funeral expenses.

A Railway Protection Force (RPF) constable on Monday morning shot dead four people, including RPF ASI named Tikaram Meena, on board a running train near Palghar railway station. Palghar is around 100 kms away from Mumbai. The incident took place at 5 am on Monday in the B5 coach of Jaipur Express between Vapi to Mira Road station.

The constable, identified as Chetan Kumar Choudhary, fired from his automatic weapon and killed an RPF Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) and three other passengers of the Jaipur-Mumbai Central Express, a senior police official told PTI. The official further claimed that the constable seemed mentally unstable.

Choudhary opened fire on Tikaram Meena, who was the escort duty in-charge, in the running train. The constable went to another bogie and killed three other passengers after killing his senior. The accused tried to escape from the train between Mira Road and Dahisar but was caught by the Government Railway Police (GRP) personnel and his weapon was also seized.

Hours after the incident, Western Railway DRM Niraj Verma said that families of the four victims have been contacted and will be given ex-gratia amount. 

“We received the information that an RPF constable, who was on escort duty, opened fire. Four people were shot, one of them was an RPF ASI. We are providing all medical help and the families have been contacted. Ex-gratia will be given,” Verma said earlier in the day.

The accused is currently in custody of the Mira Road railway police and bodies have been taken out of the train.

(With agency inputs)

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