Mumbai: The Govt Railway Police (GRP) on Wednesday submitted a 1,100-page-long chargesheet before a magistrate court in the murder of a 21-year-old commuter, Mayank Lohar, by a co-traveller, Roshan Suvarna, over an argument about keeping a train compartment door open amid heavy rain.GRP has requested that the case be fast-tracked and a special public prosecutor be appointed, given the heinous nature of the crime.The chargesheet contains statements of 68 witnesses. Among these are six to seven prime witnesses who were present in the first-class compartment of the Nalasopara-bound fast local train on June 23 when Suvarna stabbed Lohar. Eyewitnesses recounted that Suvarna was visibly drunk. He wanted to keep the door of the compartment open, but rainwater was entering inside and Lohar shut it. There was a heated exchange of words between the two and Suvarna landed the first blow on Lohar, who retaliated in defence. Shortly, a few other passengers sent away Suvarna to another exit. Subsequently, he took a large knife from his bag and went over to Lohar, stabbing him in his chest and abdomen.One of the passengers filmed the moment, also capturing the blood-soaked compartment. The video clip forms crucial evidence in the case. Suvarna hopped off the train at Borivli station and threw away the knife. He was arrested from Panvel while he was trying to leave the city the next day. The chargesheet contains the statement of a restaurant manager whose colleagues found the 17.5-cm-long knife dumped in a lane outside Borivli (W) station. Forensic analysis confirmed the knife found in the lane was the one used in the murder. Police have also recorded the statement of a friend of Suvarna’s who works with an e-commerce platform and from whom Suvarna had picked up two knives. He kept the small knife at this workplace for making barcode labels and carried the large knife in his bag for seven months until the crime.
