Unclaimed suitcase triggers panic in CSTM-bound train

The bag belonged to a resident of Tamil Nadu identified as 32-year-old Vimal Fernando

An unclaimed suitcase which was found on the Panvel-Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT)-bound train on Sunday afternoon created panic among commuters.

The suitcase was later opened by the Railway Police Force (RPF) officers and a team of bomb squad to find clothes and documents belonging to a man from Tamil Nadu.

According to RPF officers, at 12.50pm on Sunday, the RPF helpline received a call from a panicked commuter, that an unclaimed red suitcase was lying in the compartment of the train which was going towards CSMT. The Kurla RPF officials rushed to the compartment as the train reached Kurla railway station along with a team from the canine squad. On examining the suitcase, the RPF officials and the canine squad found that the bag did not contain any explosive device. The team of officials led by personnel Vikas Gurjar took the bag to the RPF post at Kurla. Police officials said that on searching the bag they found a few documents and the identity card of a man along with some clothes.

“We examined the identity cards and found that the bag belonged to a resident of Tamil Nadu identified as 32-year-old Vimal Fernando,” said a police officer from the Kurla RPF.

The officials then tracked down Fernando and returned the bag to him. “Fernando said that he had forgotten his suitcase in the train on Sunday morning when he alighted at Panvel station,” said the officer.