Now, RPF to test mental fitness of its personnel | Mumbai News – Times of India

MUMBAI: In the wake of the incident where an on-duty Railway Protection Force (RPF) constable gunned down four people on a train, the force will be carrying out psychiatric screenings of its personnel and holding counselling sessions. Sources said senior RPF officers are in an advanced stage of discussions with a non-profit group that works in the field of mental health.

On July 31, RPF constable Chetan Singh gunned down his senior, ASI Tikaram Meena, in coach B5 of the Jaipur-Mumbai Superfast Express. Singh had had an argument with Meena over not being relieved from duty despite suffering from ill health. Later, he gunned down an elderly passenger, Kadar Bhanpurwala, in the same coach. He moved to coach B2 where he took a passenger, Syed Saifuddin, hostage at gunpoint. Saifuddin was taken to the pantry car and shot. Singh then went to coach S6 where he gunned down a third passenger, Asghar Abbas Shaikh. Standing next to Shaikh’s body, he delivered a communally charged speech. Singh’s family told investigators that he was undergoing neurological treatment at Mathura, UP.
Sources in the RPF said that once in five years, a full periodical medical check-up is done for all personnel. Singh’s periodical check-up was done about 20 months ago when he was posted at Bhavnagar, Gujarat. His reports were okay. However, the check-up does not include mental health screening.

The NGO will set up a proper program for the Mumbai RPF which will include taking a look at what are stressors for the force and preventive action. Personnel will be screened by mental health professionals and counselled where required. Information on the total number of RPF personnel and the barracks where they stay has been handed over to the NGO.