Date:31/10/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/31/stories/2008103157810100.htm

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Six held for U.P. migrant worker killing

Meena Menon

It was a clash over seating in suburban train: police, Vilasrao

This is not a Marathi versus non-Marathi issue: Additional DGP
The accused are not from any political party

MUMBAI: Six persons were arrested on Thursday morning on the charge of beating to death a young migrant from Uttar Pradesh even as senior Railway police officials maintained that Tuesday’s incident aboard a suburban train here was not a hate crime.

The six men, two of them teenaged students, belong to three villages in Khalapur taluk in Raigad district, Additional Director-General of Police (Railways) K. P. Raghuvanshi told a press conference here. More arrests were likely.

He said there was a tiff between two groups. When Dharamdeo Rai and three others from Uttar Pradesh entered the train at Khopoli, a group of 10-12 people got into a fight with them over seating. In the course of an altercation the group asked them where they were from and beat them up.

“This is not a Marathi versus non-Marathi issue. The incident and the beating took place on the spur of the moment and it was not a preconceived attack. Some of the group members were students and they were young and hot-headed. The matter took an unfortunate turn,” said Mr. Raghuvanshi.

The police official also clarified that the accused did not belong to any political party.

The six — Vikas Datta Waghmare, 26, from Dolavli, who works as a watchman; Manoj Palande, 30, a farmer from Mankivali; Avinash Narhari Thombre, 24, another Mankivali farmer; Ajay Dilip Hadap and Sanjay Harishchand Hadap, both 18 and standard XII students in the Janata Junior College, Khopoli; and Ketan Kashinath Hadap, 23, who is privately employed, from Navande — have been remanded to police custody till November 3.

The accused, who were also on their way home, got down at the next station after beating up the migrants. They were not injured in the scuffle. Dharamdeo’s relatives called the railway helpline and got off at Badlapur, about half hour from Khopoli. There were no external injuries on the four migrants. But Dharmadeo was beaten up so badly that he fell unconscious and was declared dead on admission to hospital at Badlapur. His liver suffered lacerations and a rupture and his heart was already enlarged.

Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh also said preliminary investigations revealed that a clash between two groups of youngsters over seating in the train was the main reason for the death of Dharamdeo. He has already asked the Chief Secretary to submit a report soon.

Meanwhile, the Railways have increased security on trains and added over 1,500 personnel.