Jammu-Delhi Duronto Express passengers robbed at knifepoint

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 17

Some unidentified men today barged into two AC coaches of the Jammu-Delhi Duronto Express at Samaypur Badli and robbed the passengers of valuables at knifepoint. The incident took place around 3.30 am when the train was waiting for the signal to proceed to the main station in Delhi, said a police official.

According to the DCP (Railways), the gang entered coach B-3 of the train and robbed the passengers of cash, gold chains, mobile phones and other articles as the train stopped for 10 minutes from 3.25 to 3.35 am at outer signal of Samaypur Badli Railway Station.

The Railways was alerted by a passenger's complaint on its portal. "Suddenly some seven to 10 unidentified miscreants entered coaches B3 and B7 of the train. They were carrying sharp-edged knives with them. They put the knives near to the neck of passengers and asked them to handover whatever expensive items they are carrying with them," the complainant wrote on the portal.

The passenger said the horror lasted for 10 to 15 minutes before the robbers jumped off the train. "The irony is that neither staff nor Railway Police personnel were available there at the time of the incident," he wrote.

Frantic passengers reportedly looked for the train attendant and the ticket examiner, but found them after 20 minutes. By then, the men had escaped.

"The attendant told us that there was no security personnel available in the train. We are not safe even in AC coaches and imagine the security in sleeper class and general coaches where passengers enter the train even without tickets," the complainant wrote.

The Railway Protection Force and the Delhi Police have initial leads in the matter. 

A case under Sections 392/34 of the IPC has been registered, said the DCP.