Hyderabad: A gang of dacoits stopped the Yeshvantpur Express heading to the city from Bengaluru at Divitipally, about 100 km from Hyderabad, and grabbed valuables from passengers sleeping who were sleeping near open windows.
The incident occurred at 3.55 am. The dacoits pelted stones at the S2, S3 and S8 compartments and grabbed valuables from the passengers. They did not enter the train.
“The train stopped in a dense forest. Within minutes, I felt my chain being pulled by someone,” said a passenger sleeping in the middle berth. She raised an alarm only to see a man wearing a yellow tee-shirt fleeing with her chain.
“It all happened suddenly. There were only these silhouettes which we could see at first as we were all in deep sleep. Before our eyes could adjust to the darkness, they were gone,” said a woman passenger who suffered minor injuries to the neck when her chain was snatched.
Altogether, the gang stole 25 tolas of gold, Rs 10,000 and four mobiles phones from passengers. A railway police official said the gang comprised about 10 members. Police was suspecting it to be the handiwork of a Parthi gang from Solapur, Maharashtra.
“At exactly 3.55 am, the train was stopped by the gang who tampered with the signal cables,” said Mr Raghavender Goud of the Mahbubnagar railway police. He said the gang targeted passengers in the sleeper class who sleep with their windows open.
The train ticket examiner took down the details from the victims, who said the gang members were teenagers.
A complaint was lodged with the railway police at Kacheguda, the train’s destination at about 6 am on Saturday. A case was booked under IPC Section 395 (dacoity), said a Kacheguda railway police official adding that it would be transferred to the Government Railway Police at Mahbubnagar.
The train did not have police guarding the compartments, said Mr Goud. “The Railway Protection Force and other personnel have been deployed in trains which have suffered repeat offences,” he said.
According to Secunderabad superintendent of railway police G. Ashok Kumar, the gang stopped the train for about 20 minutes by meddling with the signalling system.
Additional Director General of Police (railway and road safety) Sandeep Shandilya visited the spot where the dacoity occurred. Mahbubnagar superintendent of police Rema Rajeshwari said the local police had picked up certain clues and assured that the gang would be caught soon.
