Couple thrown off moving train while fighting off robber

Mumbai couple injured after being thrown off a train while resisting a robber. The husband lost his arm in the incident; police are investigating.

Mumbai: A couple was thrown off a moving train and seriously injured while they tried to fight off a robber who attempted to snatch the woman’s bag between Bhandup and Kanjurmarg stations on Wednesday.

A couple was thrown off a moving train and seriously injured while they tried to fight off a robber (Photo by Rishikesh Choudhary/ Hindustan Times)

The Kurla Government Railway police (GRP) said that Dipali Deshmukh, 44, a resident of Panvel, was travelling on the LTT Nanded special Express train with her husband, Yogesh Deshmukh, 50, and their nine-year-old daughter when the train slowed down between Kanjurmarg and Bhandup stations.

The family was asleep when at 3:50am Dipali felt a tug at her purse. She told the police that she screamed and did not let go of her bag as the thief dragged her towards the door. Her husband, an ayurvedic doctor in Panvel, awoke and tried to help her, but the robber dragged both victims towards the door and pulled them along with him as he jumped off the train.

The couple fell onto the tracks and were seriously injured. Dipali said, “I got up and immediately took my husband to the Fortis hospital as he had injured his arm and shoulder.” Due to the gravity of the injuries, Yogesh’s left arm had to be amputated.

Based on the couple’s complaint, the Kurla GRP has booked the unidentified thief under section 309 (robbery) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

In a similar incident, on June 1, another couple, Ayub Khan, 46, and Hina Khan, 42, were targeted by a gang of four robbers on the Jaipur-Bandra Express. The couple tried to fight off the robbers but were threatened at knife-point and robbed of valuables worth ₹700,000.