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Mumbai: Railway Protection Force (RPF) constable Chetan Singh Chaudhary shot dead his senior officer and three passengers after identifying them as Muslims in 2023, and after three years, his trial remains at a standstill due to a lack of a judge in courtroom number 11.

Chaudhary’s trial began in November 2024 in the Dendoshi Sessions Court. The last, most recent hearing occurred on March 25, 2026, following which the judge hearing the case was transferred that very day. Since then, no replacement has been issued.

In December 2025, it faced a similar issue with the trial being suspended till February 2026, as the judge was transferred. With the absence of a special public prosecutor (PP), Choudhary’s hearing has reached a stalemate. According to Hindustan Times, Additional PP Sudhir Sapkale had been participating in the hearings from the beginning. However, in November last year, he was assigned to another court, which left him insufficient time to attend the trial.

The delay has affected family members of the deceased and eyewitnesses who have been waiting for a conclusion to the incident. Jaffar Khan, who witnessed his employee Syed Saifuddin being killed, has broken down before his brother Ismail Khan almost daily, overcome with emotion. “He repeatedly asks, ‘Why did this happen? Where has humanity gone?’,” Ismail said.

Jaffar Khan was returning from a pilgrimage with his family and was woken up by the gunshots in coach number B5. He opened his eyes to a harrowing scene: A uniformed Chuadhary dragging his employee Saifuddin at gunpoint and executing him in the pantry car.

For Jaffar, that day is permanently imprinted in his brain, as he describes that “every minute is clear like the day.” Ismail has said that his 75-year-old brother is “inconsolable” and recalls the day “every day and weeps.”

Jaffar has been unable to travel by train since the incident, choosing air travel. “His first train trip since the incident was a few days ago, when he travelled to Hyderabad for medical treatment. Now we are praying he returns safely,” said Ismail. Jaffar splits his time between Hyderabad and Mumbai.

It was not just Jaffar who has been rattled by the brutal murder. Many have shunned train rides altogether, scarred for life, some unable to trust a uniformed officer again, and others stuck in guilt, after seeing their loved ones killed in front of them.

Ashok Singh, a 39-year-old resident of Kandivali, was seated alone in coach number B/02 when a passenger approached him to inform him about the shooting. Having been deeply affected, Singh closely follows the trial proceedings. “Even after three years, they are debating whether he (Chaudhary) was mentally fit or ill. What is the use of such lengthy trials when the outcome is insignificant to the victims,” said Singh.

‘Want to move on but trial still ongoing’

Brother of deceased Abdul Kader Bhanpurwala, Ali Asgar, said his family just wants to move past the trauma and pain, but can’t because of a suspended trial. “Kadar’s son Husaain has already left for Dubai while his wife is not in a state to speak about the incident due to health reasons,” said Asgar.

A resident of Nalasopara, he was the first person the Borivali GRP officers contacted to inform him about his brother’s murder.

Association for Protection of Civil Rights’s advocate Karim Pathan, serving as the victims’ counsel, said the delay was a “grave failure of the justice delivery system.”

“The victims’ families have waited three years for the trial to proceed meaningfully. Justice delayed in a case of this magnitude, where the victims were targeted and a communal motive was evident from the accused’s conduct, sends a deeply troubling message – that even the most serious crimes can languish indefinitely due to administrative apathy,” Pathan was quoted by HT.

According to him, the judicial vacancy should be “urgently filled” and a special public prosecutor appointed to show that “the rule of law is not held hostage to vacant chairs.”

Eighteen witnesses, including railway employees and passengers, have testified in the case so far. Chaudhary, who previously appeared via video conferencing, has been attending recent court hearings in person after his counsel filed a second bail plea on grounds of temporary insanity.

A similar bail plea was rejected in December 2023. His counsel submitted a second application last November following a five-month stay at Thane Mental Hospital, where he was transferred after exhibiting erratic behaviour at Akola Central Jail.

The trial was halted as it could not proceed while he was in the hospital. Although a June 2025 discharge report noted he was “cooperative and communicative,” a subsequent medical evaluation submitted to the court in January found his parameters normal.

Chaudhary had opened fire in the Jaipur-Mumbai train on July 31, 2023, where he executed his senior assistant sub-inspector, Tikaram Meena, along with three Muslim passengers, Asghar Ali Abbas Shaikh, Abdul Kader Bhanpurwala, and Syed Saifuddin.