In a bizarre incident, an innocent passenger travelling in a general compartment of Lucknow-Mumbai Awadh Express lost his life when another passenger fired at a pantry car staff after a tiff, but missed the target. The incident took place between Piplod and Limkheda on Saturday night.
The assailant and his two associates managed to flee from the compartment.
The deceased has been identified as Biren Bahadur Singh, who, along with other members of his family, was coming from Lucknow to Surat for employment. As the compartment was jam packed, he and his family were sitting near the lavatory porch.
It is learnt that after serving food items to passengers, a pantry car staff came to the compartment to collect money. The waiter asked for Rs15 from the assailant. But the latter denied having taken any item. As altercation intensified between the passenger and the waiter, the latter slapped the passenger.
Reacting violently, the passenger took out a country pistol and fired at the waiter, who ducked. The bullet missed him and hit Biren Bahadur Singh, leading to his death. Another passenger, Monu Baburam Yadav, 25, was also injured. The incident spread panic and shock in the compartment.
Realising the gravity of the situation and taking advantage of the panic, the assailant pulled the chain and made good his escape along with his two other associates.
An eyewitness, Sonu Singh, told DNA, "The assailant was fighting with co-passengers ever since entering the compartment. He and his associates were very aggressive. They fled from the compartment soon after opening fire. Even before getting down, they snatched mobile phones of some passengers. I was shocked to see an innocent person being killed."
When the train reached Godhra, police and railway officials rushed to the train. The deceased's body remained lying in the compartment for about five hours. While the injured person was shifted to hospital for treatment, the body was sent for post-mortem. The railway police have started investigations in this regard.
