Eyewitness Recounts Horrific Mumbai Local Train Murder

Mayank Lohar (L), Roshan Suvarna (R)

MUMBAI: “I had never seen such a ghastly crime and so much blood before... It haunts me.” TOIspoke to an eyewitness to the horrific murder of a 21-year-old passenger, Mayank Lohar, in a local train this week. The witness said Roshan Suvarna, who has since been arrested for the crime, had landed the first blow on Lohar after the two had an altercation over keeping the train compartment door shut amid heavy rain. GRP have recorded the statements of multiple witnesses and are gathering evidence, including CCTV footage, to make the case watertight. The witness said there were 20-25 passengers in the first-class compartment of the Nalasopara-bound fast local on Tuesday night. Among these were a few senior citizens and women. “Suvarna appeared visibly sloshed. He was standing at the compartment door and so was Lohar. He wanted to keep the door 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,” the witness said. “Shortly, a few other passengers intervened and manhandled Suvarna. He was sent away to another door. It seems his ego was hurt. He took out the knife and walked over to Lohar. We saw the stabbing...” he said. “Chaos broke out in the compartment as passengers shouted and ran. As Suvarna started to walk back towards the door where he had been standing, he brandished his knife at other passengers. We moved towards the other end of the compartment, away from him. At Borivli station, he took his bag and knife and hopped off before the train halted.” A passenger went towards Lohar, whose eyes were open, and tried to egg him on to keep breathing and stay awake, said the witness. The compartment floor was covered in blood. “When the train halted at Borivli, we yelled and summoned GRP and RPF officials from the platform. A stretcher was brought in and Lohar was taken out of the coach,” he said. One of the passengers had filmed Suvarna brandishing the knife after the murder and handed the clip over to police. The video went viral on social media. “The passenger had shot the video for security agencies so that they could know who committed the crime. Everything had happened very fast and we all froze in shock,” he said. The witness added that most of the co-passengers were office-goers, like him, who had never seen the inside of a police station. “What has happened has left us severely traumatised. We also fear for our lives and our families as we were witnesses to such a ghastly crime. We want the perpetrator to get the strictest punishment,” he said.