Railway police foil robbery in Visakha Express in Andhra Pradesh

Amaravati, June 29 (IANS) Railway Police opened fire in the air to foil robbery on Visakha Super-Fast Express in Andhra Pradesh's Palnadu district in the early hours of Sunday.

The incident occurred near Tammulachervu in Piduguralla mandal around 3 a.m.

A gang of unidentified robbers attempted to target several coaches of the train, which was heading to Secunderabad from Bhubaneswar.

Alert personnel of the Government Railway Police (GRP) on board the train responded by trying to apprehend the robbers. However, the robbers attacked the police personnel with stones, prompting them to open fire.

Police fired at least 10 rounds in the air, forcing the robbers to jump off the train and escape into the darkness.

GRP, Railway Protection Force (RPF) and district police launched a hunt to ban the thieves.

Two robbers in S1 coach pulled the chain to stop the train.

Noticing them, the GRP personnel tried to overpower them. However, other members of the gang who were waiting near the tracks pelted stones, forcing GRP personnel to open fire.

Passengers expressed relief at the timely intervention of the railway police, which averted a major robbery.

The police suspect that around seven robbers attempted to loot the passengers. They are believed to be part of gangs committing train robberies in the region.

Authorities say gangs from Bihar and Maharashtra are active in the region.

This is the third train robbery in a week. A series of robberies has heightened concerns about passenger safety in the region.

Two days ago, thieves attempted to rob passengers in the S4 bogie of the Visakha-Charlapalli Special train two days ago by pulling the chain near Piduguralla. Railway police opened warning shots, forcing the robbers to escape.

On June 26, an armed gang halted the Chamrajnagar–Tirupati Express by tampering with the railway signal system and looted passengers in two coaches. The robbery was committed near Siddampalli railway station in Chittoor district.

Although the route had been cleared, the signal indicated a stop 350 metres ahead of Siddampalli station. Investigation by railway authorities revealed that the robbers had cut the wires and manipulated the system to display a red signal.

The gang approached S-7 and S-10 sleeper coaches, used flashlights to identify female passengers wearing jewellery and then climbed atop one another to reach the windows and snatched gold chains from four sleeping women. The stolen ornaments weighed about 65 grams.

Railway police personnel on board sounded an alarm, but the robbers escaped into the darkness after looting the passengers.

--IANS

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