More than 15 months after four people were gunned down on a Mumbai-bound train allegedly by a RPF constable, the trial in the case commenced on Monday with a city court recording the testimony of the first witness, who identified the weapon used in the crime.
RPF constable Chetansinh Chaudhary, the lone accused in the case who was later dismissed from service, is accused of fatally shooting his superior officer assistant sub-inspector Tika Ram Meena and three passengers on board the Jaipur-Mumbai Central Superfast Express when the train was on the city's outskirts.
The first witness, also a dismissed Railway Protection Force staffer, was with Chaudhary at the time of the shooting.
He is also the complainant in the case.
On the opening day of the trial, the evidence presented by the complainant was recorded before Additional Sessions Judge M L More.
During his examination-in-chief, the witness identified the weapon used in the crime (examination-in-chief refers to process of questioning a witness by the party who has called them to testify).
As per Chaudhary's lawyer, Jaywant Patil, testimony of the witness was recorded in absence of the accused as he couldn't be connected through video conferencing from a jail due to technical reasons.
The dismissed RPF constable is lodged in a jail in eastern Maharashtra's Akola district, about 550km from Mumbai. -- PTI