The Government Railway Police (GRP) on board the Hyderabad-bound Chennai Egmore -Kachiguda Express had to open one round of fire at Vanganur railway station near Gooty in Anantapur district in the small hours of Thursday in order to quell a mob of robbers, who struck at coach No. 11, and decamped with gold chain from a woman passenger.
The gang, believed to be around 15 members, had tampered with the signaling system at the station outer to make the express train halt.
The Deputy SP (GRP-Gooty Section), S. Madhu told The Hindu that the robbers using their regular technique of tampering the signaling system could stop the train.
Finding the doorways closed, the gang members tried to peep into the windows. In order to gain the view inside the compartments from the ballast, two of them of them climbed on to another. “This way, one of the gang members could pull away a gold chain from a woman identified as Manjula of Hyderabad, on the side-lower berth at the window side”, he said.
“The mob ran helter skelter into the bushes by the track side,” the DSP said. When the incident took place, there were only two GRP personnel on duty, the official added.
The woman had informed the GRP officials that she would file a complaint at Kachiguda railway station. The train resumed after the railway crew restored the signalling system.
The DSP observed that due to poor staffing, the GRP is finding it difficult to provide escort on the trains running through the vulnerable section between Tadipatri and Gooty.
A similar robbery attempt took place on June 22 on the same section. The official said that there was no breakthrough in the earlier cases.