Hyderabad: Panic prevailed among passengers of the Hyderabad-bound Venkatadri Express when a gang brought the train to a halt by damaging the signal, and looted gold ornaments from sleeping passengers.
The gang of 10-12 robbers, reported to belong to the infamous ‘Pardhi gang’, targeted Coaches S10 and S11 and fled with gold ornaments and cash at about midnight on Thursday.
The gang first pelted stones at the train and stopped it by damaging the signal monitor. Standing on top of one another, they robbed passengers sleeping with their head towards the windows.
“They pulled out gold chains and handbags from passengers who were sleeping with their head by the window side and fled,” said Kacheguda inspector Vijaya Lala. They did not enter the train. In all, the gang stole 12 tolas of gold ornaments and a handbag.
The passengers tried to lodge a complaint at Gooty, but as the train had a brief halt there, they approached the Kacheguda railway police.
Passengers allege lax security by cops
Several passengers on Venkatadri Express woke up suddenly when they felt their ornaments being pulled. They quickly realised that robbers were trying to steal the valuables.
“I was sleeping when I felt a tug on my handbag, which contained some keys, ATM cards and Rs 10,000. Then I saw a man’s hand trying to snatch it. I shouted and alerted the others but the man fled,” said Ms Fatima, a passenger arriving at Kacheguda from Railway Koduru.
“We noticed two men running with the loot and asked the police to shoot them, but they stood still,” said another passenger. “The police came in after we raised an alarm. We asked them to open fire in the air at least but they did not react,” he said.
Every express train has four RPF personnel and two GPF, said Kacheguda railway inspector Vijaya Lala. “We do not know why they failed to act. We will probe the issue,” he said.
