New Delhi, Aug 1 (PTI) The Left parties on Tuesday alleged that the incident of an RPF constable killing his senior and three passengers on board a train in Maharashtra was "a direct result of the hate speeches" made by those in power.

RPF constable Chetan Singh (33) allegedly shot dead his senior - Assistant Sub-Inspector Tikaram Meena - and three passengers - Abdul Kadarbhai Mohammed Hussain Bhanpurwala (58), Asgar Abbas Sheikh (48) and Syed S (43) - near Palghar station on the outskirts of Mumbai.

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The Railway Board has set up a five-member committee to conduct a "comprehensive inquiry" into the incident which took place on Monday on the Jaipur-Mumbai Central Express train.

A court in Mumbai on Tuesday remanded the Railway Protection Force (RPF) constable in the custody of Government Railway Police till August 7.

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In a statement on Tuesday, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) said the incident should not be seen as the actions of a disturbed mind as is the initial explanation by the authorities.

"All the passengers killed were Muslims. The constable went from one coach to another and deliberately targeted Muslims. This is a direct result of the hate speeches being made day in and day out by those in power, demonising the Muslim community and using every abusive word in the dictionary of communalism against them.

"A video which is yet to be authenticated shows that the man...was echoing the language used by BJP leaders," the CPI(M) claimed.

What is more alarming is that it clearly shows that such "communal thinking is affecting those officially mandated to provide security," the party said.

"This condemnable incident is a wake-up call to India that the toxic agenda of the Hindutva forces is leading the country into a deep abyss," it said.

The CPI said the incident "reflects what RSS has done to our society."

"This great land of Buddha and Gandhi is saturated with hate today. Menace of hate is bulldozing everything our freedom fighters fought for. Hate has to be defeated by harmony if our republic is to survive," the Communist Party of India (CPI) said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind issued a statement condemning the incident.

In a letter to the Union home minister, its president Maulana Mahmood Asa'd Madani said it is not an isolated action but a continuation of a hate campaign that has been perpetuated for years.

"This is an alarming situation where those who openly propagate violence against Muslims in Dharam Sansads and slogans consider themselves above the law, with no concrete action taken against them," he said, citing instances of hate slogans being chanted and TV programmes promoting divisive ideas.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)