Sources in the security agencies have confirmed that the killing of three of the four persons on a moving Jaipur-Mumbai superfast train on July 31 was a case of targeted killing. "It was a hate crime," an official said.
Railway Protection Force (RPF) constable Chetan Singh (33) had opened fire with his automatic weapon when the train was hurtling towards Mumbai after a halt at Surat where he got in for escort duty. He first shot dead assistant police inspector Tikaram Meena following a tiff. After that he sought out persons belonging to a particular community and gunned them down one after another.
Few takers for 'mentally unstable' theory
While the police claimed that Singh was mentally imbalanced, this theory has few takers. Singh made it a point to kill only members of one community. The allegation that it was a terror attack is now gaining credence. Singh not only shot dead three innocent persons in cold blood, but also gave an oration standing in the common passage singing the praise of Hindutva icons Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Thackeray even as the dead body of one his victims was lying at his feet.
"Of course, these leaders had nothing to do with the horror even remotely. But Singh roped in their names to give an ideological justification to his gruesome act," an official said. Until recently, such hate crimes were witnessed mainly in the US where people were targeted because of their religious affiliations.
Singh appeared to harbour hate towards one community
The other victims included Saifuddin Moinuddin (43), who hailed from Hyderabad, Asgar Abbas Ali (48) from Madhubani in Bihar and Abdul Kadar Mohd Hussin Bhanpurwala (64) from Nalasopara near Mumbai. It appears that Singh nursed hatred towards one community and this was shown in his actions. If he was mentally unbalanced (as claimed by the police) then he would have opened fire at random. Instead he picked up bearded Saifuddin, asked his name, dragged him to the pantry car where he was gunned down in cold blood.
Singh then went to other compartments and opened fire only on bearded persons belonging to one religion. Even though he could have shot at other passengers at random, he did not do that. The whole operation was carried out in a cold-blooded manner and rounded off with hate speech.
Intelligence agencies are trying to find out if Singh was associated with any political or communal organisation. A narco test may be conducted on him to go to the root of the issue.
