Nagpur: In a daring act, a gang of goons looted passengers on board Pune-Hatia Express in the jurisdiction of Central Railway’s Nagpur Division. The incident occurred in the wee hours of Thursday when Train No 22845 was between Borkhedi and Khapri stations in Nagpur Division, local media reported.
According to the report, the goons, numbered five to six, struck in one of the general compartments of the train which is always jam packed. The exact amount and articles looted, however, is not known so far as only one traveller, Rajesh Kumar from Nagpur, came forward to report the dacoity. Other travellers whose cash and valuables were looted were travelling long distance and hence did not bother to lodge any complaint with the Government Railway Police (GRP) who were in dark till late afternoon about the sensational incident.
Kumar’s version is that as the train slowed down near Borkhedi, the dacoits’ gang boarded the train. Soon after entering into the bogie they whipped out a sharp weapon and threatened the passengers and asked that cash and other valuables be handed over to them. As the passengers hesitated, the goons resorted to rampant bashing-up of the travellers, mostly poor persons who board the general bogie as it is the cheapest form of long distance travel.
At one instance, a child was snatched from the arm of a mother as she was not ready to part with the cash purse. One of the goons held the sharp weapon to the child’s neck and it worked as the mother quickly handed over the cash purse. Sensing the mood of the goons, other passengers quickly emptied their pockets of whatever little cash was with them. The goons deboarded the train as it slowed down while entering the Khapri railway station, said Kumar.
The passenger was summoned to GRP’s Nagpur railway station unit and his statement was recorded. The pattern of loot suggests that the goons were knowing the pattern of trains and aware about caution order on Wardha-Nagpur route and hence they chose the target area quite well.
Meanwhile, as per information, the GRP summoned two ladies who reportedly dress-up in style of third gender and extort money from the travellers. The GRP cops suspect that the two might have some information about the group that looted the passengers. The incident had spooked the railway administration and they are trying to rework their strategy to prevent repeat of such incidents in future.
