About 25 passengers in several coaches of the Mumbai-Delhi August Kranti Rajdhani Express were allegedly drugged and looted in the early hours of Wednesday near Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh.
The incident did not come to light immediately as the passengers, who were robbed of valuables worth Rs 10-15 lakh were sound asleep when the robbery took place between 2 am to 3 am.
Robbers cut hole in coach roof, steal bank cash worth Rs. 5.78 crore from Chennai-bound train
Preliminary investigations have revealed that seven coaches of the train (A1, A3, B6, B7, B9, B10 and B5), all AC-2 tier and AC-3 tier, were targeted by unidentified thieves when the train was travelling between Ratlam and Kota in Rajasthan.
According to the FIRs filed by some passengers, they discovered the robbery when the train arrived at the Kota Junction and they woke up to find their purses and hand bags missing. Their bags had been emptied and dumped near the toilets and vestibules.
Despite the Railway Protection Force (RPF) asking the passengers to file a FIR at the Kota junction, most of them registered the crime with the Government Railway Police (GRP) at Nizamuddin Station in Delhi. So far, 11 FIRs have been filed.
The robbers are said to have looted cash, iphones and other electronic devices. However, a few passengers have said that their Aadhar cards and other essential documents were also missing.
Rail staff involved?
A few passengers have said in their FIRs that they were drugged as they slept soundly through the robbery. Many of them even suspect the involvement of rail staff in the incident.
According to PTI, a senior official of the ministry has said that a three-member Railway Police Force escort team of the train would be interrogated in the matter.
Sources in the rail ministry told NDTV that the allegation of railway staff being involved in the crime is being investigated and if it was found to be true, strict action would be taken against them.
"The ministry is coordinating with the respective GRP in the matter," said Anil K Saxena, spokesperson, Indian Railways.
Speaking of the incident, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said: "Earlier, instances of dacoity have been reported and they are coming down now...We are taking all steps necessary. CCTV cameras are being installed in coaches to keep a check on such incidents. It's unfortunate that this has happened."
The number of robberies which were reported from January-June 2016 have come to 345 from 360 last year.
On April 9, passengers in three coaches of Patna Rajdhani Express were thrashed and looted by unidentified dacoits near Buxar in Bihar.
