TNN

New Delhi, Oct 29: Government railway police have registered a case of rioting and murder against 10 to 12 unknown people a day after a 25-year-old labourer from Uttar Pradesh was lynched on a Mumbai local train. Sketches of the assailants are being drawn based on witness accounts.

The Centre has demanded a probe into the incident with minister of state for home Shakeel Ahmed writing to the Maharashtra government to begin investigations. "We have asked the state govt to give a detailed report on the incident of lynching of a Uttar Pradesh labourer in Mumbai," he said.

A post-mortem report has revealed that Dharamdev Rai, a resident of Gauri Ghat in Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur district, died of a punctured liver after being reportedly attacked by Marathi-speaking men.

"We have filed a case of rioting and murder against 10 to 12 unknown persons at the Karjat railway police station," A K Sharma, commissioner of the government railway police, said. "Some persons have been brought in for questioning at Karjat police station but no arrests have been made yet in the case," he added.

The Maharashtra government has ordered a high level probe into the lynching even as Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati wrote to the home ministry demanding Central intervention, Times Now reports. She has also written to her Maharashtra counterpart Vilasrao Deshmukh.

Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh has condemned today’s attack and the recent shooting of Rahul Raj inside a BEST bus. "Raj Thackeray is nothing more than a criminal. He wants to outdo his uncle Bal Thackeray. There is competition between these two outfits and others are suffering..." he said.

Railway police commissioner Sharma has told TOI that Rai, who suffered no external injuries, had boarded a Mumbai-bound train at Khopoli station along with fellow workers Veerendra Ramgopal Rai, Satyaprakash Kaushal Rai and Shivkumar Verma who worked at the same factory in Khopoli. They were all heading back to Uttar Pradesh and were scheduled to board the Kushinagar express from Lokmanya Tilak Terminus at Kurla.

"The four north Indians were punched and kicked by the group. They alighted at Badlapur station where Rai was admitted to Dubey Hospital. He died two to three hours after his admission to the hospital," the commissioner said.

Asked if it was a hate attack, Sharma said: "The three who were accompanying Rai have said that the attackers were all speaking Marathi."

Verma told a private television channel that he and his three colleagues were quizzed by fellow passengers when they boarded the local train at 1.55pm with suitcases. "When the Marathi-speaking youths learnt that we were going to UP, they taunted us and angrily told us not to return. When we protested, we were humiliated and beaten up by the group which got off the train at Karjat station," he said.

After the attackers left, one of Rai’s colleagues rung up the Railway Protection Force (RPF) control number displayed inside the train. RPF officials then boarded the train at Badlapur and Rai was rushed to hospital.