Mumbai train firing: His wife used to ask me to deny him leave, says RPF constable’s superior

The statements of the family and friends of killer Railway Police Force RPF Constable Chetan Singh reveal a complex character and raise many questions Chetan Singh 30 joined the RPF in 2009 at the age of 18 after the sudden demise of his fatherA diehard football fan he had turned silent after he was transferred to Mumbai by his department He was also under medication prescribed by a neurologist as an MRI scan had revealed a small lump in his brain Shockingly nobody at the barracks he was living in knew about this including his reporting officer His wife though would keep a check on himSingh the son of an assistant subinspector was the eldest of three siblings His father died of a heart attack in 2007 at Mau Uttar Pradesh He got married in 2012 while he was posted at Ambala Haryana After which he was transferred to Ujjain Madhya Pradesh followed by Gujarat At Ujjain his wife gave birth to a boy and a girl who are nine and seven years old respectivelySought transfer to MathuraAccording to Singhrsquos mother Rajendradevi when she went to meet her son in Gujarat in February 2023 he told her that he did not like staying away from his children and said their education was being hampered which was bothering him ldquoHe told me he had applied for a transfer several times but the applications hadnt been approved He also asked me to accompany him to the deputy railway managerrsquos office in Mumbai When we went to the office he requested that he be transferred to Mathura where his wife and kids were staying Senior officials told him he had to wait until his tenure was completed after which his application would be consideredrdquoThe mother and son then headed to Mathura via rail and were sitting in an AC coach When a ticket checker asked Singh whether he had a duty pass he answered in the negative and the TC asked them to shift to a sleeper coach While they were making their way to the coach a jerk resulted in Rajendradevi hitting her head on the corner of a berth She immediately started bleeding Enraged Singh started arguing with the TC blaming him for the accident Finally Rajendradevi intervened and pacified SinghMother sensed behavioural shiftAfter the Mumbai visit proved fruitless Singh requested his mother to accompany him to a Delhi office Sensing that something was amiss Rajendradevi alerted her daughterinlaw Manisha 35According to her Singh would mumble to himself suddenly and bang his head on the wall Rajendradevi told Singhrsquos wife to take him to a doctor Manisha duly informed Singhrsquos uncle and the latter took him to a Mathurabased neurosurgeon on February 13 It was then when the lump was discovered The doctor told him took take medication for 10 days and later asked to continue the treatment as it had been found effective Manisha would call Singh and ask whether he was taking his medicines on time to which he would reply affirmatively Though Singh wanted to be transferred to Mathura he was posted in Mumbai in April which displeased himRavindrakumar Kanwarpal a 33yearold RPF constable who was posted at the Lower Parel workshop said in his statement ldquoI could sense while talking to him that he was not happy with the transfer and wanted a Mathura posting Chetan would not speak much but would never argue with anyone or quarrelrdquoDid wife have her doubtsThe statement of RPF Inspector Harishchandra Ganeshilal Singhrsquos superior raises questions According to him Singh had applied for fiveday leave from July 21 but returned the very next day on July 22 ldquoChetanrsquos wife would always question me about whether he was on duty or not or whether he was taking leave She would often tell me I should not grant him leave From this I gathered that his wife didnrsquot trust him But I told her that if he was entitled to leave I couldnrsquot refuse itrdquo he saidHe also stated ldquoChetan didnt have a phone To contact his family he would borrow one After being asked to get a phone he bought an old one He also didnt carry cash and his mess bills would be paid by his wife She was in possession of his ATM card Chetan served under me from March 2023 till the incident but I never knew that he was unwell or on medication He had never told me he was unwell or had any medical issuesrdquoIntroverted colleagueA constable who lived alongside Singh at the Mahalaxmi barracks said ldquoMost of the time I would find him sleeping If I greeted him he would only reply at times He would never talk to anyone in the barracks or share anything about his family He would eat food prepared at the barracks but I never saw him taking any medicinesrdquo Most of the occupants of the barracks mentioned in their statements that Singh was introverted never communicative and would be mostly sleepingA football fanSingh was a football fanatic and represented his school in the sport He planned to become a professional footballer but had to give up his dream after finishing Std X However he did not entirely abandon his passion as he represented the Mumbai Division in the interrailway football championship at Howrah in November 2022 According to his teammates and manager he would never play aggressively or be disobedient2009Year Singh joined RPF