Passengers, cops helpless in face of train thefts

BENGALURU: A spate of pickpocketing and theft of money from luggages of passengers are taking place frequently inside four trains, particularly when they depart from the Krantivira Sangolli Rayanna railway station. The reason: miscreants illegally gain entry inside trains when they move from the yard area where they are stabled and head to the platforms. Kacheguda Express, Udyan Express, Dibrugarh Express and Nanded Express routinely report such incidents, state Railway Protection Force (RPF) cops.

“Most passengers realise only later they have been robbed. Out of the few who realise it immediately, a majority are not in a position to dash to the Government Railway Police station on Platform 6 and file a complaint. The fear that their train would leave them behind if they leave it makes them helpless. They merely inform the cops on the platform verbally and leave,” an official told Express.
Despite patrolling platforms regularly and ensuring passengers boarding general compartments queue up to ensure no untoward incident occurs, railway police are finding it impossible to put an end to such incidents.  

Three thefts took place inside the Udyan Express last Thursday. “A teenage boy Ananth Kumar was robbed of Rs 13,415 just as he entered the compartment. He was taking the money with him for his mother’s treatment in his home town and was crying inconsolably. He filed an FIR at the station,” a cop said. In the same train, nearly Rs 5,000 was stolen from a senior citizen while Rs 3,000 went missing from a lady’s bag. “Frequent loss of cash get reported from this train as well as Kacheguda, Nanded and Dibrugarh Express trains,” said a cop.

The Pataliputra Express is packed with ‘towel spreaders’ who ensure all seats are reserved using towels by them to be sold at a price later while the Malgudi Express is notorious for chain snatching incidents, he added.

The chief reason for such incidents is that doors of compartments are not locked when they arrive from the yard, a cops stresses. “Some individuals are already inside and there is no way we can monitor them when we are keeping track of passengers on the platforms. They are already onboard prepared to target passengers as they enter trains after they reach the platform. They coolly jump out through the other door,” he added. The RPF has repeatedly requested railway staff to ensure all doors are locked but they do not take it seriously, a cop charges.  

A top railway official denied negligence on the part of the staff. “Maintenance staff take care all doors are locked inside. One aspect we have noticed is that the emergency window of many long distance trains are broken into. May be, a few are gaining access into the train through it and then unhinging the latches in the other compartments.”