Published: 23rd May 2015
VELLORE:A month after three women train passengers were robbed of over 15 sovereigns of gold, the robbers - perhaps attached to an inter-state gang struck again on Friday.
The robbers snatched seven sovereigns of jewels from two passengers of Bangalore-Chennai Express and Chennai Mail (plying between Chennai and Mangalore). The two incidents took place between 1 am and 1.30 am on Friday at Somalnaickanpatti (around five km from Jolarpet, towards Kuppam in Andhra Pradesh) and Kethandapatti (around eight km from Jolarpet, towards Katpadi) in the district.
In both the incidents, the offenders pulled the emergency chain and brought the train to a halt and attempted to rob six to seven women. They managed to rob two passengers. “We are under the impression that the offenders were travelling in the train and pulled the chain at the rendezvous points where their associates were waiting,” said a police officer attached to Railway Protection Force (RPF).
Forty five-year-old Usha of Ambattur in Chennai was the first victim of the gang. She was travelling with her husband K Kalyana Kumar, an employee in a private firm, and three of their children in coach S9. They were on their way to Coorg in Karnataka for a four-day trip. “The train had come to a halt around 1 pm after crossing Jolarpet station. We thought the train stopped at a signal. Within a few minutes, a man snatched a four sovereign gold chain from my wife, who was sleeping in the middle berth, through the window,” said Kumar.
“It was a gang of about six or seven. They were using flash lights and mobile phones to look for women passengers near the windows. The miscreants covered their faces using clothes,” he said, and added that they had also attempted to rob other passengers sleeping in the same coach. Before the passengers reacted, the gang disappeared into the darkness of the dense foliage.
Within half an hour, similar incident were reported in the Bangalore-Chennai Express at Kethandapatti around 1.30 am. The gang attempted to rob more than five passengers.
The victim, Savithiri (50), of Gandhi Bazaar in Bengaluru was travelling in sleeper coach S 7. The victim and other passengers were fast asleep with the windows open. The gang was waiting at the spot and snatched a three sovereign of gold chain from Savithiri and vanished into the darkness.
“We suspect it was the same inter-state gang that robbed three passengers a month ago on April 20. The gang pulled the emergency chain and robbed 15.5 sovereign of jewels from three women passengers of the Bangalore-Chennai Mail,” said another police officer privy to the investigation.
In fact, a gang had attempted to rob passengers of Chennai-Bangalore Express during the mid-night on Wednesday near Latheri. “The alert TTE of the sleeper coach thwarted the attempt by waking up the passengers immediately. He then alerted us about the bid,” said an official attached to RPF, Katpadi.
Superintendent of Police of GRP, Chennai District, P Vijayakumar told Express that they have been taking all efforts to prevent such offences in trains and railway stations. “We have engaged around 300 police personnel on night trains to ensure the safety of the passengers. We have been gathering information to arrest the accused indulged in the robbery in moving trains,” he said.
He requested the passengers to immediately contact the helpline 1512 to alert the GRP, in case of any such emergency.
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