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The team of 12 RPF jawans arrive to escort the Barabil-Howrah Janshatabdi Express at Tatanagar railway station on Monday. The jawans are armed with self-loading rifles and carbines. Picture by Bhola Prasad |
Jamshedpur, Aug. 3: A strategic 14km stretch between Chakulia and Gidhni flanked by dense forests are of paramount advantage to criminal gangs that target trains on the Tatanagar-Kharagpur section of South Eastern Railway.
While Chakulia is in East Singhbhum, Gidhni falls under Jhargram sub-division of West Midnapore district in Bengal. Barely 7km down from Chakulia is the Kanimohuli halt. Bang on the border, it serves as the choicest escape route for train robbers — both professionals and amateurs, like the Garhwa gang that pulled off the Janshatabdi Express heist.
According to sources in the railway, if the crime is committed in Jharkhand, the gangs, which hide in the forests before the swoop, choose the Bengal side of Kanimohuli to escape and vice versa. The Garhwa gang that struck three AC chair cars of the Barabil-Howrah Express near Chakulia on Saturday got off the train after it crossed the Bengal border. Three members of the gang, however, landed in police net while returning to the state on the Kharagpur-Tatanagar Passenger.
If strategic location works to the advantage of goon gangs, it is a nightmare for passengers who are often caught in jurisdiction controversies while lodging FIRs.
Using Kanimohuli as their vantage route for escape was originally the modus operandi of the notorious Matlub Ali gang of Ghatshila that pulled off at least a dozen robberies every year since the state came into being. Ali and his accomplices were nabbed in October 2008.
Incidents of train robberies between Chakulia and Gidhni decreased after the arrests, but it appears a new gang — or maybe gangs — has taken over. It is using a similar modus operandi, said a railway source.
Unofficial reports confirm at least three train robberies since April this year, besides Saturday’s heist. However, none has police records because of jurisdiction hassles. “Whenever it comes to lodging an FIR with the Government Railway Police, the victims are unnecessarily harassed over the place of occurrence. So, many find it wiser not to report to the police,” claimed a source.
Suresh Sonthalia, a senior functionary of the Singhbhum Chamber of Commerce and Industry said the railway authorities should set up a police post at Kanimohuli. “Traders from Jamshedpur, Chakulia and other parts of the district frequently travel on Howrah-bound trains. They are soft targets between Chakulia and Gidhni. We have highlighted the issue during railway consultative committee meetings, but no steps have been taken in this regard,” he said.
Superintendent of railway police (Tatanagar) Richard Lakra said he would conduct a survey of the Kanimohuli halt and recommend measures to curb crime. “Though we are facing manpower shortage, we will do whatever is necessary,” Lakra said, referring to the posting of armed guards on the Janshatabdi Express.
Sources said besides providing armed escorts, the railway authorities can also strengthen the communication network between trains and stations, install alarms in every coach and press sniffer dogs into service.
Crime diary
May 2004: Gangrape on Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Purushottam Express
December 2006: Suspected Maoists snatch away rifles from RPF jawans on Howrah-Sambalpur Ispat Express
September 2007: Chakulia rice trader robbed of Rs 2 lakh on Howrah-Tata Steel Express
What the state can do
Guards: Provide escorts on all long-distance trains; set up a police post in Kanimohuli
Gadgets: Install electronic alarms & displays in every coach, improve communication network between stations and trains
Canine squad: Allow sniffer dogs to accompany armed RPF guards