Jammu-Delhi Duronto passengers robbed

Five unidentified armed men forced entry into two Jammu-Delhi Duronto Express coaches early on Thursday, pointed knives at passengers and fled with their cash and gold within 15 minutes when security was absent, a passenger said.

The incident occurred near the Badli area during an unscheduled stop made just after the train entered the national capital, the passenger said, as the Railways claimed to have made some headway.

The train stopped due to some signal problem before arriving at the Sarai Rohila Station, according to a railway official.

The matter came to light after Ashwani Lumar, who was travelling from Jammu to Delhi, lodged a complaint through the complaints portal.

Around 3.30 a.m., when the train attendant, the Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) and the security personnel were not available, the incident took place, Lumar said.

"Today at 3.30 a.m., the train stopped somewhere due to (a) signal problem. Some five unidentified culprits entered coaches B3 and B7. They put their knife on the neck of other passengers and asked them to provide whatever expensive items they were carrying.

"They took their purses, cash, carry bags, gold chain and other things. The incident happened within 10 to 15 minutes," he said in his complaint.

"The irony was that neither staff nor security personnel were available at the time of the incident."

Northern Railways spokesperson Deepak Kumar, said they will take stern actions.

"The Railway Protection Force (RPF) has some initial lead in this case... We will be able to catch the culprits soon," he said.

--IANS

aks/in