A Muslim woman witness told a Mumbai court that Railway Protection Force constable Chetansinh Chaudhary forced her to chant “Jai Mata Di” at gunpoint because she was wearing a burqa. The testimony came during the ongoing trial in connection with the July 2023 incident on the Jaipur–Mumbai Central Superfast Express, in which Chaudhary is accused of killing three Muslim passengers and his senior colleague from the tribal community, reported the Madhyamam.
The woman, traveling with her two children, said she was asleep at around 5:30 AM when she saw a man in a police uniform carrying a rifle enter her coach. She said he singled her out because she was wearing a burqa, pointed the rifle at her, and demanded she say “Jai Mata Di” — first softly, and then loudly after threatening to shoot.
She claimed that when the constable aimed the rifle at her, she briefly grabbed the weapon and attempted to understand who he was, but released it after he warned her not to touch it. She said she feared for her and her children’s lives, and during cross-examination, asserted she was not lying.
Chaudhary allegedly fired 12 rounds from his service rifle near Palghar in Maharashtra, killing Assistant Sub-Inspector Tikaram Meena and three Muslim passengers identified as Abdul Kaderbhai Bhanpurwala, Asghar Abbas Sheikh, and Sadar Mohammed Hussain. Prosecutors allege the killings were motivated by communal animosity, pointing to how victims were chosen, and the threat to the burqa-clad witness as indicative of religious bias.
