Five Okha-Puri Express passengers injured in mob attack

They said some 25 youths,armed with wooden sticks and iron rods,gathered outside the S/6 coach and tried to force their way in. Even as alarmed passengers tried their utmost to prevent the break-in,few youths from the adjacent coach made their way in through the vestibule. They picked up a quarrel with the passengers and assaulted them.

The police said the accused had an eye on a parcel hidden in the toilet,which was unknown to the passengers. After the assault,they took the parcel and eloped.

The passengers alerted the police and the Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) at the Bharuch Railway station,where the train halted for two hours to shift the five critically injured,including two minors,to the nearby government hospital. The injured are reported to be in a critical condition.

The Bharuch Railway Police registered a complaint of rioting and transferred the case to the Surat Railway station as the incident had taken place in the jurisdiction of the Surat Railway Police.

On Tuesday afternoon,Surat Railway Police,Local Crime Branch (LCB),Special Operations Group (SOG),and the Surat city police conducted combing operations in Uktalnagar in Katargam and rounded up 20 people,mostly belonging to Orissa.

Surat Railway Police Inspector M B Joshi said: “We are suspecting two passengers – residents of Utkalnagar in Katargam in Surat,who alighted at the Surat Railway station – who might have kept the parcel in the coach. They could not take out the parcel,as the train made a brief halt at the station. In all probability,they called up their associates at Utkalnagar near the railway track and told them to take out the parcel from the S/6 coach. We suspect that the parcel might contain ganja or some other contraband. Further investigations are on.”