Mumbai, Aug. 15 -- The trial of former Railway Protection Force (RPF) constable Chetan Singh Chaudhary - accused of shooting down his senior officer and three identifiably Muslim passengers on board the Jaipur-Mumbai Superfast Express on the night of July 31, 2023 - was marked by drama on Wednesday and Thursday as Narendra Parmar, a crucial witness, stuck to his testimony despite intense cross examination by defence advocate Jaywant Patil. Parmar, then RPF head constable and part of the four-member escort team on the train, had testified earlier that he had seen Singh take with him a bearded, kurta-clad passenger at gunpoint, whose body was later found near the toilet of the pantry car. He had also seen Chaudhary shoot another bearded, kurta-clad passenger in the chest even as the latter begged for mercy, Parmar had said during his examination-in-chief. On Wednesday and Thursday, defence advocate Patil went over Parmar's examination-in-chief with a fine toothcomb, asking him questions about every little detail. Patil probed the witness about the exact sequence and timing of events after the train halted at Borivali station, where bodies of the four victims were unloaded and Chaudhary was arrested. About the incident itself, Patil suggested that it was not possible for Parmar to see clearly what was unfolding inside the train compartment through its glass door, especially since the lights inside were switched off, or to hear any conversations as the train's noise would drown them out. He also alleged that the police had told Parmar what to say in his statement recorded under section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) before a magistrate. Parmar dismissed the suggestions and stuck to whatever he had said in his examination-in-chief, telling the defence lawyer, "Your questions are all wrong; you are mixing up things." The former head constable said that he could see clearly what was going on through the glass door. While the compartment was lit with a night light, the area near the toilet was brightly lit, he said. The noise of the train was overbearing only at some points, he replied. The police had nothing to do with what he had told the magistrate, he said, adding, "I told the magistrate what I had seen." Towards the end of the cross-examination, stung by the suggestions of the defence, Parmar repeatedly counter-questioned Patil, saying, "Kaun bola? (Who says so?)" At one point, Patil replied, "I say so", to which Parmar retorted, "Aap jhooth bol rahe ho (You are lying)." That became his standard response thereafter. Parmar, 60, was a-year-and-half away from retirement when he was dismissed for his "failure to discharge his duty" that night. He had testified earlier that though he had seen Chaudhary ready to shoot his targets, the presence of other passengers had stopped him from using his firearm against the former constable as a preventive measure....