Inside Alok Singh's last train journey: A colleague recounts the horror

Sudhir Trivedi, a professor at NM College, was traveling with Alok Singh in the same local train when Singh was fatally stabbed allegedly by a fellow passenger at Malad station on Saturday night. In a first-person account told to Smart Pallavi During Singh’s funeral, Trivedi recalls the moments before and after the attack and the frantic effort to save his colleague’s life.

That night I was traveling with Alok. We both teach at NM College in Vile Parle, although we don’t travel together every day because our schedules vary. That day, we took a shared rickshaw to Andheri station and from there we decided to board a local to Borivali.
I suggested that we could have tea outside the station, but Alok said he was in a hurry, so I didn’t insist. We went directly in to catch the train.

As it was between 5:30 and 6:00 p.m., we expected the train to be crowded. Still, what happened was completely shocking.

Since I live in Nalasopara, I stayed further inside the compartment. Alok was near the door, on the walkway, as he had to go down to Malad. When the train was about to reach Malad station, a man rudely asked Alok to move forward so that he could get off. Alok replied that there was a female passenger standing in front of him.

Suddenly, the man attacked Alok. At first I thought I had punched him in the side of the stomach. Only later did I realize that I had stabbed him. I saw the man jump off the train immediately. I ran after him when Alok called me from behind. When I turned around, I saw blood coming out of his wound.

I ran towards Alok and pressed my handkerchief against his wound to stop the bleeding. I shouted to the people coming up the bridge to stop the attacker, but no one seemed to understand what had happened or pay attention.

Some passengers on the platform came forward and handed out their tissues to help control the bleeding. We made Alok sit on a bench on the platform, but after a couple of minutes he fell unconscious. After a while the police arrived and took him to the hospital.

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I gave the police a physical description of the attacker based on what I had seen and remembered. Later, around midnight, I was shown CCTV footage and identified the attacker.

Even now I still think that if we had stopped to have tea for a few minutes, this might never have happened.

Pallavi Smart is Senior Correspondent of The Indian Express, Mumbai Bureau. Their reports focus singularly on the education sector, demonstrating exceptional expertise and authority across the entire spectrum of learning, from basic education to advanced higher education. It is a highly trusted source of policies, institutional developments and systemic issues affecting students, teachers and parents in Maharashtra. Senior Experience Role: As Chief Correspondent of The Indian Express, your appointment reflects your seniority, specialist knowledge and the editorial rigor applied to your reporting. Central Authority and Specialization: Pallavi Smart is the definitive voice for education news in the region. Its scope of coverage is comprehensive: Regulatory and Policy Changes: Reports on major changes in education policy including restructuring of entrance examinations (e.g. MHT-CET adopts JEE main model), draft regulatory framework for coaching classes and revised teacher recruitment processes. Higher Education Institutions (HEIs): Provides detailed reports on prestigious institutes such as IIT Bombay and TISS (Tata Institute of Social Sciences), covering institutional initiatives, administrative discussions (e.g. renaming IIT Bombay) and student welfare programs (e.g. mandatory mental health courses). Teachers and Eligibility: Covers crucial issues affecting the teaching fraternity such as the mandatory Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) for in-service teachers and related controversies and application numbers. Student Welfare and Rights: Focuses on student issues, including the launch of government scholarships, financial strain on schools due to delays in reimbursement of midday meals, and cases of child rights violations (e.g. the Powai studio hostage crisis). Admissions and Vacancies – Tracks the outcome of centralized admission processes (e.g. MBBS, BPharm) and analyzes vacancy concerns, providing essential data-driven information for parents and students. Credentials and Reliability Dedicated Area: Your constant focus on the educational area “KG to PG” allows you to develop unparalleled knowledge on the subject, ensuring that your reports are accurate, detailed and contextualized. Proactive Reporting: Your articles frequently provide policy and institutional planning news, providing the public with timely and essential information about a sector that directly impacts millions of families. She tweets @Pallavi_Smart… Read more

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Inside Alok Singh’s last train journey: A colleague recounts the horror

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