Syed Saifuddin from Hyderabad was among the four men, including an ASI, gunned down by an RPF constable on the Jaipur-Mumbai Central train.
Published Aug 02, 2023 | 9:06 AM ⚊ Updated Aug 02, 2023 | 4:30 PM
The accused Chetan Singh Choudhary (left) and the deceased Syed Saifuddin. (Supplied)
Residents of Battery Lane at AC Guards locality in Hyderabad are anguished over the “targeted killing” of 43-year-old Syed Saifuddin. They called it a “hate crime”.
Saifuddin was one among the four people killed by a Railway Protection Force (RPF) constable, Chetan Singh Choudhary (33), onboard the Jaipur-Mumbai Central Express (12956) near Palghar railway station in Maharashtra around 5 am on 31 July.
Choudhary, who is from Hathras in Uttar Pradesh, reportedly fired four rounds from his automatic rifle at his superior officer and Assistant Sub-Inspector Tikaram Meena from Rajasthan.
The constable was reportedly enraged as the officer refused to relieve him from duty early. He then allegedly went through several different coaches, identified Muslims, and shot three of them dead.
Saifuddin had spoken to cousin Syed Tajuddin after boarding the train.
“He called me after leaving for Mumbai from Ajmer with our shop owner and employer Zaffar Khan. They had gone to Ajmer from Hyderabad on 25 July to visit Sharif Dargah, ” a teary-eyed Tajuddin told South First.
Saifuddin and Tajuddin used to work at a mobile shop at Gujarati Galli in Hyderabad’s Koti. “He had gone to purchase stock for the shop,” Tajuddin said.
At Saifuddin’s Hyderabad residence on Battery Lane, his relatives and friends were finding it hard to come to terms with reality.
“We did not tell his wife (Anjum) about his death initially. But after a few hours, when people started gathering we had no choice. She has been crying ever since she was told of Saifuddin’s death,” Tajuddin said.
Saifuddin had been working as a mobile technician for more than a decade. A native of Hamilapur village in Karnataka’s Bidar district, he is survived by three daughters of which the youngest one is just six months old. The other two are aged six and four.
On Tuesday late evening, his brother Syed Yunus (24) left for Mumbai to bring his body back. Nampally MLA Jaffer Hussain Meraj of the AIMIM assisted the family.
Tajuddin termed the incident a cruel act. “They killed him because he was a Muslim. Our employer has stated that the constable first asked his name before firing at him. That guy had a problem with Saifuddin’s identity and long beard. Is keeping a long beard a crime,” he asked.
The deceased Syed Saifuddin. (Twitter)
Constable Choudhary also gunned down two other men, Asgar Abbas Ali (48) from Bihar and Abdul Kadar Mohamed Hussain Bhanpurwala (64) from Palghar in Maharashtra.
After the incident, a video of Choudhary standing next to one of the deceased he had allegedly shot dead went viral on social media.
In the purported video, he spoke unclearly about “Muslims operating from Pakistan by their handlers.”
Tajuddin alleged that the BJP-led Union government was fuelling enmity instead of promoting communal harmony.
“What is the government doing? Just treating it as another murder case. The government has a crucial role as it should promote harmony among people. But instead, it is making people fight. Innocents are dying in such incidents,” Syed Faizuddin, another cousin of Saifuddin’s, told South First.
Faizuddin expressed his apprehensions over how a common man would trust police personnel after this incident.
“The accused, a policemen, killed people while his job was to protect passengers on the train. But instead, you see what had happened? What message would it give to the society,” he asked.
Soon after the incident, the Western Railways authorities said the accused “constable is a short-tempered person and was suffering from mental health issues”.
However, Saifuddin’s kin and others refuted the authorities’ claim that Chaudhary was mentally unwell.
“If he was mentally unwell how did he differentiate between a Hindu and a Muslim? He even killed his superior officer after giving a proper thought. Why did they keep him in force and issued him a weapon if he was mentally challenged or unwell,” Tajuddin asked.
While demands were made to adequately compensate Saifuddin’s family, Tajuddin said no amount of money could account for their loss.
“But the Union government should help Saifuddin’s daughter study. And his wife should be given a job to run the house,” Tajuddin opined.
Grieving family members of Syed Saifuddin. (Twitter)
Saifuddin’s uncle Wajid Pasha told South First: “This is not right at all. It is completely a terrorist attack. What is this Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas? This is not development at all.”
Pasha demanded a compensation of ₹5 crore from the Union government. “It cannot fill the void Saifuddin has left. But it will help this poor family to rebuild itself.”
Saifuddin’s relatives wanted stringent punishment for the accused. “We demand justice from the judiciary,” Tajuddin said.
The Government Railway Police (GRP), which is probing the matter, have booked the constable under IPC Section 302 (murder). On Tuesday, a Borivali Metropolitan Magistrates Court sent him to police custody till 7 August.
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi sought Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s support for Saifuddin’s family.
The fourth victim of the #JaipurExpressTerrorAttack has been identified as Syed Saifullah. He was a resident of Bazaarghat, Nampally. He is survived by 3 daughters, the youngest is just 6 months old. AIMIM Nampally MLA @Jaffarhusainmla is with the family for the past few hours &…
— Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) August 1, 2023
He called the incident an act of terror. Several others on social media, too, termed it a “terror attack”.
However, on Tuesday evening, X (previously Twitter) blocked the AIMIM President’s tweet calling the Jaipur railway shooting incident a terror attack against Muslims. He said the tweet was blocked following the Union government’s request.
His tweet, a screengrab of which he shared later, read: “This is a terror attack that specifically targeted Muslims. It is the product of continuous anti-Muslim hate speech & unwillingness of @narendramodi to put an end to it. Will the accused #RPFJawan become a future BJP candidate? Will his bail be supported by the govt? Will he be garlanded when released? Happy to be proven wrong.”
Owaisi reportedly received a report from X, saying it has received a legal demand from the Government of India to withhold the tweet as it violated the Information Technology Act, 2000.
However, a fuming Owaisi took to social media again and expressed his disapproval. “My tweet on the #JaipurExpressTerrorAttack has been withheld in India on the request of Government of India. What law did it violate? Is calling a terror attack a terror attack a crime? Wish the Modi govt was this proactive in preventing hate crimes against Muslims.”
