Imran Shaikh had arrived in Mumbai looking for employment. Two days later, he was found unconscious inside a toilet at the Railway Protection Force (RPF) post at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) and later declared dead at St George Hospital. His family has now alleged custodial death, prompting an investigation by the Crime Investigation Department (CID).

On September 20, Imram Shaikh, a resident of Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh, had approached the RPF post at CSMT, seeking help and information about trains. According to Shaikh’s relatives, an argument broke out between him and the RPF personnel, who allegedly assaulted him.

“The RPF personnel misbehaved with him,” one of his relatives has alleged.

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Railway officials, however, have denied the charges. They claimed that Shaikh attacked an RPF employee. Injured in the scuffle, Shaikh was later kept at the RPF post and taken to a toilet around 12:30 pm, according to the Central Railway officials.

When he did not come out of the toilet for 10 minutes, RPF personnel broke open the door and found him lying unconscious. Police suspect that he may have consumed phenol (used as a disinfectant) inside the toilet.

The Government Railway Police (GRP) registered an Accidental Death Report (ADR) in connection with the incident and sent his body to JJ Hospital for a post-mortem, which is awaited to determine the exact cause of his death.

The CID probe will examine the circumstances leading to Imran Shaikh’s death inside the RPF post. Prashant Waghunde, Superintendent of Police, CID Konkan Range, has reportedly started the investigation.

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Shaikh was carrying unreserved railway tickets for the Khandwa-Dadar and Dadar-CSMT routes. His movements before he reached the railway station are being examined. Shaikh is survived by his wife and two children.