Row over seat in Mumbai local: Assistant manager loses eye in attack, GRP arrest man for throwing stone at train

MUMBAI: After a bystander lost an eye to a stone flung by a commuter over a spat between him and another traveller on a local train at Bandra, the Govt Railway Police (GRP) tracked down and arrested the suspect on Thursday.

Yogendra Bauddha, the accused, is a labourer.

The stone flung by Bauddha injured Nishant Khatri, a 28-year-old professional who had got engaged just two days before the incident.

On Feb 3, Khatri had finished work at office and boarded a Churchgate-bound local from Andheri station to head home. An MBA in finance, he works as an assistant manager (accounts and finance) at a firm in Sakinaka.

Two commuters were bickering over seats in the compartment. When the train reached Bandra, one of them (later identified as Bauddha) hopped on to the tracks and picked up a stone.



"I was seated on the third seat," said Khatri. "The first stone came up from behind me and hit the train. Nobody was hurt, but there was a loud sound and everyone gasped in horror."

As chaos broke out in the compartment, Khatri turned to his left to find out what was happening. "Then a second stone came in — the size of my palm. It hit me in the left eye and left it bloodied," said Khatri. Co-travellers watched him get injured but nobody came forward to help. "They did not pull the alarm chain either. I somehow got off the train after it had started moving," he said.

Khatri found a home guard who walked him the entire length of the platform. He was then taken to the station manager's office. Khatri has alleged that he was made to wait for 45 minutes for completion of procedural formalities. Western Railway officials denied the allegation and said he was moved to Bhabha Hospital at 11.25 pm, 15 minutes after the matter was brought to their attention.

"At Bhabha Hospital, doctors were not available and a ward boy cleaned my wound, before giving me a tetanus injection. My relatives moved me to Hinduja Hospital where I underwent a surgery," Khatri said.

Bandra GRP registered an FIR and put together a team to hunt for the suspect. The team, led by DCP Sunita Salunke, ACP Kishore Shinde and senior inspector Shahaji Nikam, combed through CCTV footage from various railway stations on Western Railway. After a tip-off was received from informants that the suspect was to arrive at Dadar, the police team laid a trap and apprehended him.

Bauddha hails from UP and came to Mumbai eight months ago. He resides at Vasai and works at a plastics company. Police said he often travels on local trains between Vasai and Churchgate for fun.

Khatri's relatives said he was the sole breadwinner and the loss of vision in one eye will impact his capability to work. "My eyeball was damaged in the incident and doctors said I will never recover vision in my left eye. For no fault of mine, my life has been wrecked," he said.