Woman overpowers snatcher on train despite knife attack

HOWRAH : A 47-year-old woman, returning home to Hooghly’s Uttarpara on board a Bandel local around 10.20pm on Friday, fought off a snatcher on the train and overpowered him by gripping his neck with her right hand, even as the accused attacked her with a knife on her left hand after a failed attempt to stab her in her stomach.

The police later took the victim, Sonu Sharma, to Howrah District Hospital. On being administered first-aid, she was discharged from hospital, from where the police escorted her home.

The accused, Guddu Singh (23), was handed to Howrah GRP and was arrested.


Sharma works as a cook at an eatery and at two flats in Salt Lake. She told the police and doctors in hospital, “Like every day, I had boarded a Bandel local from Howrah station to return home. I was seated near the window inside the ladies’ compartment. It was around 10.20pm. As the train pulled out of the platform and was still moving slowly, I noticed a man, in shorts and a t-shirt, board our ladies’ compartment. He suddenly brandished a knife at me and snatched my mobile. I immediately caught his left hand with my right hand. He slashed my left hand with the knife that he had in his right hand. As I started bleeding and lost balance, he pulled my gold chain from my neck and tried cutting the strap of my hand bag. I fought back and held him by the neck, managing to resist him from stabbing me in the stomach. I then managed to snatch his knife away with my left hand, which he had slashed.”

The scuffle and Sharma’s screams alerted her co-passengers, who rushed to her rescue and caught Singh. One of them also pulled the chain and the train stopped near the Liluah carshed minutes after it left Howrah station.

As the women screamed, men from other compartments rushed out and caught Singh and beat him up severely. As RPF jawans arrived, they took Singh from the clutches of the angry passengers and handed him to the GRP. After being arrested, Singh was hospitalized, where he is still recuperating.

Treating Sharma’s statement as an FIR, the police started a case, slapping charges of snatching and causing grievous hurt on the accused. During interrogation at the hospital, the accused identified himself.

SRP Howrah Niladri Chakraborty said, “We had checked the ladies’ compartment before the train was about to start its journey. But the accused boarded the compartment even as the train began pulling out. We have arrested the culprit and spoken to the victim and started a case against him, based on her statement.” Eastern railway CPRO said, “We have started a departmental inquiry to find out how the incident took place.”