Rowdy group assaults youth, throws him out of local train

A 23-year-old man was allegedly assaulted and thrown out of a local train by a group of rowdies on Thursday. Such rowdy groups, formed by regular commuters on both the Western and Central Railway, have added to the travelling woes of commuters. The Government Railway Police (GRP) will now monitor such groups in the train and conduct crackdowns to maintain law and order.

Dhiraj Mahaiskar, a resident of Sangarli employed with a finance company, had boarded a Titwala to CSMT train at 9.20 am. When his bag touched a group member, they started raining punches on Mahaiskar and pushed him out of the local train. Around nine men then followed Mahaiskar to the foot-overbridge at Dombivli railway station where they went on to assault him brutally.

"I finally managed to escape the chaos when other commuters intervened. The group of men who travel in the same train daily were obstructing me from entering the train claiming that I should board a starting train," said Mahaiskar.

A senior GRP official said, "We have arrested two persons and have the incident's video footage. We have formed teams to conduct crackdowns on such groups. We request commuters to inform our personnel on the helpline number and assure that their identity will be not disclosed."