On the rainy night of 22nd June 2026, a fatal stabbing took place in the moving Mumbai local train. Mayank Lohar, a 22-year-old commuter, boarded the first-class coach of the Churchgate-Nallasopara fast local, where an argument over closing the coach door escalated.
How the murder unfolded
The deceased boarded train number 90663 at 10:42 p.m. from Andheri Station. Heavy rain was pouring down on the city and into the train compartment. Lohar found himself standing at the doorway of the first-class coach. A fellow passenger, later confirmed to be Roshan Suvarna, also stood at the entrance. A squabble over closing the door of the coach as rain drenched the coach turned into a violent altercation between the men. According to the investigators, Suvarna, the accused, allegedly stabbed Lohar in the abdomen and chest using the knife, locally known as ‘sattu ’, pulling it out from his bag. The train arrived at Borivali Platform 6 at 11:04 p.m., but the accused deboarded before the train completely halted and disappeared in the crowd.
Two video clips circulated by fellow commuters on social media capture the chaos in the compartment after the stabbing. An 18-second clip shows the accused walking through the bloodstained coach with the knife in his hand. Other passengers move away from him, and voices warn others that he had killed a man. Another 20-second clip shows a passenger kneeling beside Lohar trying to revive him as other passengers look shocked.
Railway Police Force and Government Railway Personnel reached the coach by 11:07 p.m. A stretcher, porter and medical assistance team arrived on the spot by 11:10 p.m., and Lohar was moved to the Emergency Medical Room at Borivali station at 11:22 p.m. before he was shifted to Shatabdi Hospital in Kandivali at 11:52 p.m., where he was pronounced dead.
The bereaved family is left behind.
The victim, a Virar resident who worked as a salesman at retail chain Westside’s Andheri outlet, was returning home when the attack happened. His father learnt from eyewitnesses that Mayank had been in a scuffle with a man in the train. But later found he had succumbed to the injuries caused by the fight when the argument escalated. His mother is deeply shocked by the brutal murder of her young son. He (the victim) would never pick a fight with anyone, she added. His elder sister questioned how a passenger could carry a knife in the train and why other co-passengers had not intervened. His family demands the death penalty for the accused.
Investigations undertaken
Western Railways officials have agreed to cooperate with the police officials fully. Police checked more than 40 CCTV cameras at Borivali, Andheri, Mira Road and Nallasopara stations and nearby areas. Suvarna was tracked down and arrested from Panvel on 23rd June 2026, from where he had planned to leave for Mangaluru. Other passengers tried to pacify aggressive Suvarna but did not physically restrain him. Suvarna continued his verbal abuses and allegedly unzipped his bag, taking out his knife and stabbed Lohar three to four times, told the Senior Police Inspector of Borivali Railway Police Station.
The police are yet to discover the knife, which they suspect the accused may have discarded while escaping. In his statement to the police, he claimed that Lohar had punched his face in the middle of the quarrel. He also confessed to stabbing him under the influence of alcohol on 25th June when interrogated. Borivali Magistrate Court granted police remand until 29th June for recovery of the murder weapon and further investigation. Suvarna is a Mira-Bhayandar resident who worked at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport as a barcode marker in the cargo packaging section.
Trend in Railway security
This is the second incident of this year since a lecturer, Alok Kumar Singh, was stabbed in a crowded local train on 24th January 2026. The accused, Omkar Shinde,e was pushing his way through, and when Singh called him out as women were standing ahead, officials told. Shinde felt humiliated in front of the women and claimed to have only poked Singh with a tweezer. Singh died due to Shinde’s fit of rage in the Borivali-bound train. Shinde’s father told his son had temper issues, and police also described him as a man of short temper.
Responding to the incident, Minister of State for Home Yogesh Kadam said the government would expand CCTV coverage, intensify police patrolling and improve emergency medical facilities at stations to prevent crimes. He told RailwayPolice too maintain continuous surveillance through monitoring systems linked to around 20 police stations. Given that Mumbai’s Suburban Railway carries nearly 80 lakh passengers every day, he acknowledged physical screening is impractical. The minister also highlighted ongoing measures to improve passenger security. He informed that a “Zero Death Mission” has been launched, which identifies 63 accident-prone locations across the network.
References:
- https://www.financialexpress.com
- https://indianexpress.com
- https://indianexpress.com
- https://www.hindustantimes.com
- https://www.ndtv.com
- https://www.thehindu.com
- https://www.hindustantimes.com