Mumbai, Jun 25 A court here on Thursday remanded a man accused of stabbing a co-passenger to death on a Mumbai local train in police custody till June 30, as the investigators said they were yet to recover the murder weapon.
In a chilling incident of 'train rage', Mayank Lohar (22) was allegedly killed by Roshan Ramesh Suvarna (30) inside a first-class compartment on Tuesday night between Andheri and Borivali stations following an argument over keeping the doors open amid rains.
Suvarna (30) was arrested in Panvel on Wednesday following a massive manhunt as the video of the incident went viral.
The Government Railway Police, Borivali, produced him before a magistrate here on Thursday and sought his custody for seven days.
The police told the court that his custodial interrogation was needed to recover the weapon used in the crime, and to ascertain his motive and past criminal record, if any.
They also wanted to ascertain if prior enmity existed between the accused and the victim though prima facie the crime was the outcome of a momentary argument, the police said.
Advocate Jaywant Patil, appearing for Suvarna, contended that it was a spur-of-the-moment incident and no prior enmity existed.
About the claim that the accused was drunk, Patil said there was no documentary evidence to support it.
He had no criminal antecedants and his long custody was not required for recovering the weapon, the lawyer contended.
The court after hearing both sides remanded the accused in police custody till June 30.
As per the police, Lohar and Suvarna got into an altercation as the train, a Churchgate-Nallasopara fast local, pulled into the Andheri station at 10.42 pm.
One of them wanted the doors to be kept open, while the other objected, citing the rains. During the argument, Suvarna, who works at the Sahar Cargo complex of the Mumbai airport, pulled out a 'sattu' (a sharp weapon) and allegedly stabbed Lohar multiple times in the abdomen and chest.
Lohar collapsed in a pool of blood as other passengers watched in shock, while Suvarna jumped out at Borivali station and ran away.
He was tracked down with the help of CCTV footage.
