A resident of Mankhurd, Kagari was on his way to work on Tuesday when the incident occurred around 9.30 am between Kopar and Dombivili.

“I was standing near the footboard with some other commuters, waiting to deboard the train at the next station Dombivli. Suddenly something sharp hit my right eye. I asked a co-passenger to check my eye and he told me it was distorted,” said Kagari, at JJ Hospital. His one eye is shelled and other bandaged after surgery. The co-passenger took him to the police station to register a case and later rushed him to a nearby private hospital from where he was brought to JJ Hospital later that night.

Vasant Koregaonkar, DCP central railway said, “Soon after the incident, police officials from Dombivli arrested two nine-year-old kids and sent them to remand home.”

Meanwhile, doctors treating Kagari said he would require surgery. “His right eye is completely damaged since the lens has been dislocated by the impact of the injury. We will try to implant an artificial lens on Tuesday,” said Dr T P Lahane, head of the ophthalmology department at the state-run JJ Hospital adding, “Kagari’s vision in the right eye is reduced to mere perception of light.

What makes Kagari’s case worse is that a part of the right eye’s lens has entered the vitreous (clear gel in the posterior of the eye) and his eye has caved in. “Thankfully, there are no fractures,” said Dr Lahane. In two or three weeks, Kagari will undergo a corrective surgery which may help him regain vision. “However, the chances of him regaining normal vision in this eye are slim due to the extent of the damage,” Dr Lahane said.