A passenger of the Bhubaneswar-Bangiriposi Superfast train was killed by miscreants by slitting his throat inside a crowded bogie near Betanoti in Mayurbhanj district lateon Sunday night.
Eyewitnesses said while the train was halted near the Betanoti station, two miscreants attacked the passenger and fled the spot after inflicting injury on him. The victim died on the spot.
The deceased was known to be Rajendra Behera of Anlagunja village of the Bangiriposi area after his son made the identification of the body. A guard on duty, RK Panda, said, “When I had come to the compartment to check the brake plate, some persons told me a person was fired upon in the bogie.”
He further stated, “I went to the victim, who was sitting on a side seat, and saw blood was oozing out from his neck. When I asked about the matter, the victim said someone caught his neck from behind and slit his throat with a sharp weapon. Immediately, I took the train, which was some meters from the Betanati station, to the platform. When I again went to the compartment to find out the condition of the victim, I found him lying on the floor in a pool of blood.”
Panda added, “The co-passengers were unable to say anything about the murder.”
The train halted at the Betanoti station for long hours and left for its destination without the compartment in which the murder occurred after RPF personnel reached the spot.
RPF Inspector, Balasore, A Mirza said, “At Jugal, a passenger was murdered in the train. As there was no escort team in the train during the incident, we will review how well we can deploy our personnel to provide safety to passengers and avoid recurrence of such crimes.”
As part of its probe, a Government Railway Police (GRP) team reached the spot with sniffer dogs and a forensic team.
The GRP DSP who visited the spot said the miscreants escaped after pulling chain of the train near Thakurtota.