Hyderabad: On March 21, 2015 the Charminar Express was heading to Hyderabad from Chennai and most sleeper passengers were asleep. A few minutes after the train left Ammanabrolu on the Chirala-Ongole section, somebody pulled the chain and the train halted. Soon dacoits raided the train’s five coaches. Later, police found that six passengers had lost valuables worth lakhs.
Railway stations and trains in AP and Telangana witnessed a steep increase in robberies last year. As per the National Crime Records Bureau, 1,501 thefts occurred on trains in AP and around 900 passengers were looted in Telangana. Railway police says that passengers are more vulnerable when they are in interstate trains. Gangs from Odisha, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Mahara-shtra are robbing trains.
GRP officials from AP said that some vulnerable spots have been identified where robberies are most likely to occur. Raparla in Prakasam district on the Chirala-Ongole route and Piduguralla in Guntur section are the most vulnerable in AP. Chirala recently saw an encounter between the RPF and robbers but nobody was injured. TS railway cops said the Krishna Express, Narsapur Express, Charminar Express and Janmabhoomi Express are the most vulnerable. Trains on Secunderabad-Vijayawada, Secunde-rabad-Wadi and Secun-derabad-Nanded routes are also dangerous.
Apart from well planned robberies in which robbers pull the train chain and snatch valuables, petty thefts are also common on trains running between states. “While travelling most women keep ornaments in handbags. The crooks, who know this, snatch handbags. Most of these snatchers are experienced in jumping out of running trains,” said GRP officials. The Railway police and RPF say that they have deployed enough men on trains and railway stations. However, the increasing thefts show that the deployment is not effective.
