Six men arrested Sunday for a train robbery that took place earlier this month had reportedly travelled by the same train before, timed its halts, checked for unscheduled technical delays and kept count of the number of armed guards present on board before they eventually attacked it. The men, seven in total, had looted another train in the recent past and had hoped that there would be no complaint by passengers like the previous instance. This time, however, five persons robbed by the accused registered a police complaint. The Kalyan Government Railway Police (GRP) Sunday arrested six of the seven persons allegedly involved in the December 19 robbery on the Pataliputra Express train. GRP Commissioner Niket Kaushik said they had formed five teams to solve the case after commuters on board the train alleged that they were robbed at knife-point by seven people between Kalyan and Kasara. “On Saturday, our team led by senior inspector Datta Pable arrested six of the seven accused. One of the arrested accused has a prior case of dacoity against him, while others had worked part time as porters and labourers at railway stations and were well versed with the train schedules,” he said. Watch What Else Is making News DCP Rupali Ambure said the accused were all residents of the Kalyan- Kasara-Igatpuri stretch and would often take the same train home. “They knew the train schedule well. They had also studied for how long the trains halted at each station. What they found was that due to some technical reason, the train slowed down, almost grinding to a halt on the Khardi stretch, some distance before Kasara railway station,” she said. The plan was to loot the train and get off at Khardi. On December 19, as per plan, the seven accused got into the Bihar-bound Pataliputra Express. Nearly 20 minutes before the train could reach Khardi, the accused fished out knifes and brass knuckles and threatened the commuters to part with their mobile phones and valuables. “Just to be sure the train will halt at Khardi, they also pulled the chain, went to the nearby highway and fled,” Pable said. Over a period of time, the GRP started checking the mobile phone records and tracked down six of the accused persons, all in the age group of 19-25 years. Among those arrested, one Satish Baldonde alias Satya (20) has a prior record of robbery against him. The police recovered at least eight mobile phones and Rs 28,000 in cash from them. “The accused have confessed that they had also robbed commuters aboard the Khushi Express on the same route in a similar manner. We are trying to find out how many people were robbed in that case,” said Kaushik. A hunt for the seventh accused is on.
