JALANDHAR, JULY 27: At least 25 migrant labourers travelling by the Amritsar-Barauni Express were today found unconscious due to suspected food poisoning here, railway sources said.None of the affected, who were taken to the local civil hospital when the train reached here after its 90-minute journey from Amritsar, could be revived even after four hours, officiating civil surgeon Dr Surinder Kaur told reporters at the hospital. She described their condition as "stable."Railway and police officials who had earlier put the number of victims at over 30, suspected that the passengers, all men between 22 and 50 years of age, had probably fallen victim to some trickster who distributed sweets or prasad laced with poison with an intention to rob them.However, they said the cause could be known only after the victims regained consciousness.The doctor said the victims were under symptomatic treatment, including stomach wash, as the nature of the poison was not yet known and no antidote could begiven.The incident was discovered when the 5208 Dn Amritsar-Barauni Express chugged into the railway station at 8.15 am.Superintendent of Police Pawan Uppal said all the victims were in the same compartment.Senior Superintendent of Police Gaurav Yadav said the migrant labourers were on their way home after the end of the paddy sowing season and were presumably carrying their wages."A search revealed that some of them had Rs 2000 to Rs 3000 in their pockets while others had no money at all. So we presume their money was stolen after they were poisoned," he told PTI here.The railway police has registered a case and investigations are on.Special squads formed to nab biscuit gangCHENNAI: The railway police have formed four special squads to nab the five-member biscuit gang suspected to loot passengers in Chennai-bound trains passing through Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra by drugging them.Inspector General of Police, Railways, D Tilakavathi, told newspersons that sinceJanuary this year, 22 incidents of drugging had taken place in trains and Rs 1.05 lakh and US $ 800 in cash, three kg gold jewellery, documents and clothes had been stolen.The modus operandi of the gang was to offer passengers biscuits containing sedatives like Valium 2 and Calmpose or tea, coffee, cool drinks and even drinking water mixed with intoxiants, to render them unconscious before decamping with their valuables. The victims included five defence personnel, a sailor and a bank official.Tilakavathi said one of the special teams, led by DIG, Railway Police, Sarabjit Singh, will fan out in Guntakal in Andhra Pradesh from where nine cases had been reported.The biscuit gang had struck when the trains were passing through Vijayawada, Eluru, Guntakal, Cuddapah, Visakhapatnam and Nellore in Andhra Pradesh, Sholapur in Maharashtra and Bhubaneswar in Orissa.A general alert has been sounded at railway stations in the three states warning passengers not to accept food from strangers.
