Seat Dispute Turns Violent In Mumbai Local, Woman Uses Pepper Spray; Three Men Injured In Separate Brawl

A woman allegedly used pepper spray against other women commuters during a quarrel over a seat in a suburban local train on Thursday morning, while three men suffered injuries in a separate violent altercation on another train in the Mumbai region.

Woman Sprays Pepper Spray Over Seat Dispute

The pepper spray incident took place in the first-class ladies compartment of a local train during morning rush hours, said a Central Railway official. Some women passengers travel down from Dombivli to Kalyan to secure seats before the train starts its reverse journey to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) in south Mumbai. Morning trains travelling to CSMT from Kalyan, 52 km away, are almost always packed.

With commuters from Dombivli blocking seats, those boarding the train at Kalyan cannot find seats, the official said. The issue led to an altercation between the two groups of women passengers on Thursday morning, and one of the women from the Dombivli group allegedly took out a pepper spray from her bag and sprayed it on women who had boarded the train at Kalyan, he said.

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After the train arrived at the CSMT around 8.30 am, personnel of the Government Railway Police (GRP) and the Railway Protection Force (RPF) entered the coach and conducted an inquiry. The woman who allegedly used the pepper spray was detained by the GRP for further action, the official said.

Earlier, a brawl broke out in the luggage compartment of Parel-Ambernath train at around 12.30 am and three men were injured, said Kalyan GRP senior inspector Archana Dusane. The trio fought over sharing a seat when the train was between Dombivli and Thakurli. The injuries were caused by the metal 'kada' or bangle worn by one of them, officials said.

After being alerted, the GRP and RPF personnel attended to the train at the Kalyan railway station. Raju Waghe (19), Sahil Khandare (19) and Pritesh Kanojia (31) were injured in the incident, the Central Railway said in a statement. One of them, who had sustained a more serious head injury, was shifted to Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital (Sion Hospital) in Mumbai.

Elsewhere, a video going viral on social media showed a fight in a local train compartment somewhere in the Mumbai region. But it could not be ascertained when it took place and if any was injured. In another incident, a viral video showed a man running with a wooden stick in his hand on a platform at the Kurla railway station on Wednesday night, the Central Railway said.

It triggered panic among passengers before security personnel nabbed him. The man, identified as Sajid Abdul Karim Chaudhary (49), appeared to be mentally unstable. He was detained by the GRP for further inquiry, officials said.

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