Railway employees count tickets after the mishap at Namkum station on Sunday. Picture by Hardeep Singh

The booking counter at Namkum railway station was set on fire early on Sunday by unknown miscreants who made away with Rs 40,000 collected through ticket sales the day before.

The theft came to light around 4.30am when a Jamshedpur-bound passenger approached the counter and noticed smoke. The door to the booking office was locked from outside.

The passenger informed station manager B.P. Choudhary, after which the fire was put out with the help of security personnel present on the premises. “The fire was not big and it took hardly five minutes to douse it,” Choudhary later said.

Senior divisional commercial manager and spokesperson of Ranchi railway division K.S. Mukherjee confirmed the incident and said investigations had started, even as the likelihood of an insider being involved in the theft gathered credence.

The fire did not damage any equipment at the counter, but the wooden drawer in which the money was kept was reduced to ashes. Some curtains and furniture were burnt partially but the computer and wiring escaped unscathed.

As many as 10 express and passenger trains stop at the station daily. The mega sports complex, oil depot and army cantonment are all located nearby. As many as 25 employees are deputed at the station.

Though the station staff appeared shocked by the incident, it did not affect the movement of trains or ticket sales.

“This is the first time such an incident has taken place at the station. It has disturbed us as we all have to face a probe,” a railway staffer who did not wish to be identified said.

An FIR was registered in this connection at the government railway police station at Ranchi.

“If any outsider had committed the theft, he would have simply taken the money and gone. Trying to set something on fire takes time, and a thief never wastes time,” a Ranchi GRP officer said.

Do you think an insider is involved in the crime?

Tell ttkhand@abpmail.com