3 arrested for drugging, robbing women passengers on Delhi-Thiruvananthapuram train

The Railway Protection Force on Monday, October 5, said they have arrested three persons who drugged and robbed gold and mobile phones from three women in the Hazrat Nizamuddin-Thiruvananthapuram Central Superfast Express on September 12. The accused, Shoukath Ali (50), Khayam (47) and Subair (50), all natives of West Bengal, were held in Mumbai, said the RPF. An eight-member RPF team from Kerala led by Inspector Abhilash David nabbed the accused from Mumbai on the Mangala Express train.

"The victims had said Khayam had forced them to eat their dinner suspected to be laced with drugs. We identified his name in another similar crime at Nagercoil station. Later, a special team was formed and we went to Kolkata where the accused were residing as per information. We found they had gone to Agra and we followed them there," Abhilash David, who led the team, told reporters.

By tracking their names, the RPF team came to know that the accused had boarded Mangala Express with a ticket to Ernakulam. "We reached Mumbai and boarded the same Mangala Express and identified them and apprehended them," the RPF said. The three were brought to Thiruvananthapuram on Monday morning.

The accused told the RPF that they had sold the stolen gold in Kolkata. Police said that all the accused possessed fake ID cards using which they booked the tickets. Police are yet to recover the stolen things.

Three women passengers were allegedly drugged and robbed of their valuables on September 12 during their travel by the New Delhi-Thiruvananthapuram Nizamuddin Express. Railway police had said the incident came to light when the three missed their respective stations to alight and woke up disoriented when the train reached Thiruvananthapuram.

(With PTI inputs)