Robbery on board Jaipur-Bandra Express handiwork of Rajasthan gang, suspect cops

Suspicion is based on two vital clues – beedi packets found in the bags of robbers, and their modus operandi, encompassing knife-point robbery close to the train’s terminating station

MUMBAI: The Government Railway Police (GRP) suspects that the robbery bid on board the Jaipur-Bandra Terminus Express in the early hours on Sunday was the handiwork of a gang from Rajasthan. The suspicion is based on two vital clues – beedi packets manufactured in Rajasthan which were found in the bags of the robbers, and their modus operandi, encompassing knife-point robbery close to the train’s terminating station when it was nearly empty.

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“We suspect that the robbers had boarded the train from Jaipur itself and were waiting for the train to get almost empty in Borivali before targeting the Khan couple,” the investigating officer in the case told Hindustan Times.

Jogeshwari-based businessman Ayub Khan and his wife Hina Khan, who were travelling with their two children on board the Jaipur-Bandra Terminus Express, had confronted the four knife-wielding robbers on Sunday and compelled them to jump off the moving train. While the robbers camped off with a trolley bag containing cash and valuables worth ₹7 lakh, the couple managed to snatch two bags owned by them, which were stuffed with some clothes and packets of beedi.

Though the Khans saw the robbers jump off the train between Malad and Goregaon stations, they were not spotted in CCTV cameras installed at stations and railway premises between Dahanu and Andheri, said the officer quoted earlier.

Accordingly, the GRP has turned its attention towards the neighbouring states to identify and trace the accused robbers. It has formed seven teams including three under its crime branch to investigate the case and one of the teams has already left for Rajasthan, officers aware of the investigation told Hindustan Times.

The police have a rough idea of the physical features of the four accused, based on descriptions provided by Ayub and Hina Khan, who were travelling with their children in an air-conditioned compartment and were supposed to alight at Andheri.

When the train slowed down after passing Borivali station, an unknown person dressed in a khaki shirt and trousers approached Hina Khan and asked her to move their luggage – comprising two large and two small trolley bags and a cardboard box – to the doorway, saying the station was approaching. He also helped her shift their luggage to the doorway as Ayub Khan was in the washroom.

As Ayub Khan emerged from the washroom, three other unknown men appeared at the spot and one of them pulled out a knife and threatened the couple. But instead of being scared, they resisted and fended off their robbery bid. Once the train reached Andheri station, they alighted and reported the matter to the GRP.

Based on their complaint, a case of robbery was registered by the Borivali GRP against the four unidentified accused under sections 309 (4) (robbery) and 3 (5) (criminal act in furtherance of common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.