Mumbai local train murder: Guard posted at Borivli lock-up to watch over accused in college teacher killing case

MUMBAI: The Govt Railway Police (GRP) has posted a guard at the Borivli general lock-up to watch over Omkar Shinde, the 27-year-old man arrested for the alleged murder of a college teacher inside a local train last week.

Given the sensitive nature of the case, investigators said they are taking additional precautions. Shinde will be produced before a magistrate court at Borivli on Friday.

Last Saturday, Shinde had a spat with Alok Kumar Singh, a teacher at the Narsee Monjee College in Vile Parle, over alighting from a local train at Malad station. Shinde allegedly stabbed Singh in the abdomen with a small pair of tongs that he was carrying in his pocket.

He has alleged that he did so after being shoved and after someone in the compartment pulled his hair. He was arrested on Sunday morning at an auto stand outside Malad railway station.

Police said until his arrest, Shinde was unaware of Singh’s death. “He had not watched news on TV or checked social media. Had he known that we were looking for him, he could have slipped out of Mumbai,” said a GRP officer. Police had tracked Shinde’s routine over surveillance camera footage for five days prior to the arrest.

They observed that he took the 7.18am local to his workplace in south Mumbai from Malad station and returned by the 4.16pm local. Investigators were not sure if Shinde would take the train to work on Sunday as it was his weekly off. But he turned up at the auto stand at 7.40am, a little later than his routine, and was apprehended.

The murder weapon — a small pair of tongs — was recovered from a bridge at Malad station where Shinde had thrown it after committing the crime.