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In midnight train robbery in Bihar, passengers looted, CRPF aspirant shot
The robbery took place between Sonpur and Dighwara railway stations.
A gang of robbers shot a passenger and looted valuables and cash worth ₹5 lakh from others in the Barauni-Gwalior train in Bihar’s Saran district shortly after Wednesday midnight, police said Thursday.
The dacoity took place around 12.30 am on Hajipur-Gorakhpur rail section between Sonpur and Dighwara railway station, about 100 km from Patna.
Police said the incident occurred shortly after the train left Sonpur Junction at 12.15 am. As soon as it reached Dighwara station by 12.30, the criminals started looting the passengers. When some passengers resisted, the robbers opened fire, injuring a passenger. The injured passenger was identified as Shivam Yadav, 22 of Itawa Nagar in Uttar Pradesh.
According to the station house officer (SHO) of Chhapra Government Railway Police (GRP), Dharmendra Kumar, Yadav was shot when he resisted an attempt by the dacoits to loot him. The injured was returning home after appearing at a recruitment test for the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Muzaffarpur.
“Yadav was rushed to Chhapra sadar hospital in a critical condition”, the SHO said.
Police said that the dacoits pulled a chain to stop the train and escaped under the cover of darkness ahead of the Dighwara station.
Passenger said the gang comprised 12 to 15 men. Jitendra Kumar of Chhapra who was traveling in the train said the robbers looted cash, jewellery and mobile phones from the passengers before escaping.
When the train reached Chhapra Junction, angry passengers got down and staged a protest. Some of the injured passengers showed their wounds to policemen. Even the women were beaten up and their earrings were snatched. The train was stopped for a couple of hours to facilitate the treatment of injured passengers.
Railway officials rushed to the station to pacify the agitated passengers.
The passengers claimed that there was no security personnel train when it began the journey from Barauni. Vipin Das, Sashank Singh, Ramesh Sinha, Phoolwa Rani and several other passengers narrated a similar tale. But a policeman familiar with the development said five GRP men armed with lathis who were on the train on escort duty have been suspended.
The train proceeded for its onward journey after police recorded the statements of passengers.
Superintendent of Railway Police (Muzaffarpur) Ashok Kumar Singh said the robbery was being investigated and a special investigation team (SIT) has been constituted to crack the case. “Raids are being conducted at Sonpur, Chhapra, Siwan and its adjoining areas,” he said.
Preliminary investigations hinted the miscreants boarded the train at either Sonpur or Hajipur, a policeman said.
