Rail Passengers Looted on Bengaluru–Kacheguda Express

Anantapur: Five of a gang looted passengers aboard the Bengaluru–Kacheguda Express near the Turakapalli railway station in Gooty mandal of Anantapur district during the early hours on Tuesday.

The gang, suspectedly from the northern states, targeted the S2, S4 and S7 reservation bogies and fled with the booty.

According to sources, the gang tampered with railway signal wires near Turakapalli and forced a train halt. At the unscheduled stop, they entered the train and targeted passengers in sleeper coaches S2, S4 and S7, stealing cash, gold ornaments and other valuables.

The passengers were in deep sleep as the train reached Gooty in the wee hours.

Upon reaching Kacheguda, the victims lodged complaints with the RPF and GRP. A case has been registered.

This was the second such incident in recent days. In one instance, the railway police opened fire on a robbers’ gang in Ongole area.

The robbery has revived concerns over passenger safety on trains passing through the Gooty-Turkapally stretch, which has experienced similar robberies in the past. In April 2022, a gang allegedly cut signal cables near Turakapalli and looted passengers travelling in the Seven Hills Express after the train was forced to stop.

During that incident, passengers in sleeper coaches were threatened and robbed of gold ornaments, cash and valuables. Another major theft was reported recently in a Bengaluru–Narasapuram special train, where miscreants allegedly entered multiple coaches and escaped with passengers’ valuables, highlighting recurring security challenges on trains operating through the Rayalaseema region. However, the RPF and GRP authorities failed to nab the gangs mainly targeting reservation bogies during peak summer season in Guntakal division area.

Passengers sought enhanced night patrolling, installation of surveillance systems and tighter coordination between railway and local police to prevent such incidents from recurring.