Dharmapuri: In yet another track shocker, several passengers on board the ‘Kerala Express’ bound for New Delhi from Thiruvananthapuram were robbed in wee hours of Monday, after some miscreants damaged a signal to stop the train to facilitate the robbery.
Railway sources suspect that the sabotage was the handiwork of those who knew how the signaling system worked. The driver of the train, while moving close to Doddampatti railway station after leaving Morappur junction in Dharmapuri district, stopped it as the signal light glowed red, police sources said.
The engine driver, after waiting for about 40 minutes at the place, had called the railway staff to get clearance to move his train, when the daring mischief by the robbers to sabotage the train came to light.
“The driver informed us about the signal issue when the green signal was already given for the train to cross the Doddampatti railway station. Then, a team of officials went to the place and found the wires in the relay box had been cut by the miscreants which exposed the trick of the robbers,” a railway officer told reporters on anonymity.
He added, “this may be the work of people who know about the railway signal mechanism designed in such a way that any damage to the system will automatically change the signal lights to red to prevent untoward incidents in the event of any signal fault or sabotage”.
Railway sources said the thieves, who spoke a mix of Kannada and Tamil, snatched gold jewels of the sleeping passengers in the reserved non-AC coaches S1, S2, S3 and S8 through the window and later escaped in the dark, even as passengers in other coaches jumped out of the coaches to find what happened to the train.
However, the exact value of the property and the number of victims who were robbed could not be ascertained as the complaint was given in the Jolarpettai railway station limits in neighbouring Vellore district. Dharmapuri district SP Thiru. Bandi Gangadhar and the Railway SP, Dr P.Vijayakumar rushed to the spot and conducted a thorough investigation.
