Robbers halt train by snapping signal cables; loot passengers

In an early morning train robbery, a gang relieved several passengers of gold jewels after stopping it by snapping the signal cables near Morappur in the district today.
Police said the express train bound for New Delhi from Thiruvananthapuram came to a halt around 1 am at R S Thottampatti ahead of Morappur station as the signal was red.
Five robbers then barged into the S3 and S5 coaches, and started removing the jewels from passengers, most of whom were women and asleep.
When one of the passengers woke up and raised an alarm, the culprits got down and escaped under the cover of darkness, police said.

Meanwhile, the locomotive driver of the train grew suspicious as he did not get signal clearance even after 40 minutes of halt and called the Morappur station master, who told him that the signal was clear.
He then alerted railway police, who rushed to the spot and found that the signal cable had been snapped. Sniffer dogs were also pressed into service.
Preliminary investigation revealed that a five-member gang was involved in the robbery and around 20 sovereigns of jewels were lost by passengers, police said adding further probe was on.
The train was delayed by about 50 minutes, police added.