MUMBAI: More than a week after the video of a commuter being thrashed in the general compartment of a Dahanu-bound local went viral, the Borivali GRP detained the prime accused on Tuesday. Jaywant Patil, 57, is a Palghar resident and works with a telecom company. He admitted to having beaten up the commuter, who has not been identified as yet.

On August 4, Patil had boarded the second-class general compartment of the 4.08pm Dahanu-bound local from Borivali station. The compartment was adjacent to a first-class coach. Patil told the police that two people, including the victim, were having a row over seats at that time. The victim accidentally bumped into Patil, knocking him down. “Patil claimed that he was furious after landing on the ground, as both his legs had been operated upon in the past and still hurt. He then proceeded to give the victim a sound thrashing. Later, Patil saw a video clip of the incident on television news channels and was scared of being caught. He stopped going to work for a few days,” said a GRP official.

The police showed the video clip to Patil and he identified himself as well as the victim from it. “He does not seem to regret his actions. We have booked him under section 151 (1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure and detained him at the Borivali general lock-up,” said the official.

The victim is believed to have got off the train at Bhayander. “We have recorded Patil’s statement and are trying to probe the other man, seen in the video, hitting the victim,” said the official.