Train robbery: Passengers left unguarded as dacoits loot AC coaches of Duronto Express

New Delhi: Passengers on board the Jammu-Delhi Duronto Express were robbed at knifepoint on Thursday by armed men, officials said.

The matter came to light after a passenger filed a complaint through the railways' complaints portal. In the complaint, Ashwani Kumar claimed that passengers of B3 and B7 coaches of the train 12266 were targeted by the armed men when it neared the Delhi Sarai Rohilla station.

A Northern Railways official said the Railway Protection Force (RPF) has some lead in the matter and action will be taken against the culprits.

: Case has been registered. Railway Protection Force has been deployed for the patrolling of running trains. Efforts are underway to identify the culprits. https://t.co/1RjIinsxpY

— ANI (@ANI)

"The RPF has initial leads in the matter. The culprits will be nabbed soon and stern action will be taken against them," a Northern Railway spokesperson said.

"As train number 12266, which stops only at its source and destination stations, was approaching the Delhi station, stopped at around 3:30 am awaiting signal, seven to 10 miscreants entered coaches B3 and B7 of the train," Kumar said.

He claimed that the robbers, who were carrying sharp-edged knives, threatened the passengers to hand over their expensive items.

"They looted purses, cash, carry bags, gold chains, mobiles and many more items from multiple passengers," he said.

He claimed that the incident took place within 10 to 15 minutes when the train stopped there.

"The irony is that neither staff nor security personnel was available there at the time of the mishap," the passenger claimed.

He said that the passengers tried to reach the train attendant and TT after the incident and found them after 20 minutes. 

The complainant claimed that when he could not find the TT or the attendant, he contacted the Delhi Police after which an FIR was registered at the destination station.

"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," Kumar wrote in his complaint.

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