Bihar train robbery: 50 dacoits loot Delhi-bound Lal Quila Express

NDTV
Bellevision Media Network

Patna, 06 August 2010:  In a major railway security breakdown early this morning, a large number of armed men, said to be more than 50, stormed into the AC coaches of a Delhi-bound express train in Bihar and robbed the passengers at gun point. The Howrah- Delhi Lal Quila Express was on its way to Delhi when the robbery happened between Bansipur and Bhalui railway stations in Bihar’s Lakhisarai district.

 

 

The dacoits beat up the passengers who resisted. At least 25 of them have been injured. One passenger has got gunshot injuries. One jawan of the Railway Protection Force (RPF) has also been shot by the dacoits. "They attacked the train, smashed the window panes, hit us and took away our valuables," said one of the passengers.

 

 

When the train reached Kiul station, angry passengers barged into the station master’s office and ransacked it. They alleged that there was no government railway police or railway protection force escort on the train. Bihar police however denies the allegations. It says there was an escort party on the train belonging to the Bihar police, but it was unarmed.

 

 

"Four robbers got into the train at Jamui railway station, but the passengers and these jawans overpowered them. Two were caught but two managed to escape. Possibly, the two who managed to escape raised an alarm with their accomplices, and the train was robbed at the next halt," a police official added.

 

 

Several train robberies have taken place in Bihar but this is said to be by far the biggest, and that too after rail security was meant to have been stepped up after the recent Maoist attacks.