With crime in Railways witnessing a devastating 500 per cent rise over the past five years, another incident has raised concerns over safety of passengers in Delhi Division. At least a dozen passengers travelling in Hazrat Nizamudding-Ambala Cantt passenger train claimed their valuables were snatched on knife point by four unidentified men during the early hours on Friday. Police are raiding cluster settlements near railway tracks to nab the accused.
According to the police, at least 7 to 8 victims claimed their valuables stolen and snatched around 3.45 am on board Hazrat Nizamudding-Ambala Cantt passenger train. The passengers raised alarm and called the Railway Protection Force, which started investigations into the matter.
Shashi Kumar, Senior Divisional Security Commissioner RPF, who visited the spot, said that a message was received from New Delhi railway station that a few unknown youths barged into their coach and snatched mobile phones, cash and other valuable articles. “The incident took place while the train was moving. The incident took place at signal number 624 near Pragati Maidan station,” Kumar said.
Five people have come forward but only one woman gave a written complaint in which she had alleged theft. “It was based on complaint by the woman, identified as Hari Dulari Tripathy, that the Government Railway Police lodged a case under IPC section 379 against unknown youths. A joint team of RPF and GRP has been formed to nab criminals,” the officer said.
Shashi added team are raiding JJ cluster which have encroached railway lands as the accused were last seen vanishing into these settlements.
“These trains slow down due to heavy encroachments close to tracks, giving an opportunity to anti-social elements target the victims in moving trains,” he said.
These encroachments have resulted in menace and have given rise to crime in railways. According to railway officials from Delhi Division, there are over 50,000 identified encroachments on railway land in Delhi out of which 23,000 are within the safety zone. The division witnesses a daily footfall of about 15 lakh and movement of 1,000 trains a day.
Railways in Delhi has witnessed at least a 500 per cent rise in past five years. While in 2016 total number of crimes recorded by GRP was 4368, the same stood at just 837 in 2012. However, number of cases registered by the RPF in 2016 was 24,293 and 15,083 in 2015.
This, however, is not the first time when such an incident has taken place in a train. In August 2017, more than a dozen people were allegedly drugged and robbed of valuables. Just two months before this a woman was thrown off moving Shan-E- Punjab train by a robber who tried to snatch her belongings. The same month Junaid Khan was lynched by a mob on a moving Delhi-Mathura local train.
