Shooting fallout: RPF to test personnel’s mental fitness | 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 shot 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 him feeling ill. He later gunned down three passengers. Singh’s family told investigators that he was undergoing neurological treatment at Mathura, UP.
GRP considering review of fitness of arms-carrying cops

Sources in the RPF said that a full medical check-up is done for all its personnel once in five years. Constable Chetan Singh’s periodical check-up was done about 20 months ago when he was posted at Bhavnagar, Gujarat. His reports were okay. However, the medical examination does not include mental health screening. An NGO will be roped in to set up a programme for the Mumbai RPF which will include taking a look at stressors for the force and suggesting 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. The shooting incident on the train has also prompted the state Government Railway Police (GRP) to consider reviewing the fitness of all its personnel who carry arms. Workshops on mental health are also being planned. After shooting his senior, Singh 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. Singh then went to coach S6 where he gunned down a third passenger, Asghar Abbas Shaikh.