Madhya Pradesh Finance Minister Jayant Malaiya and his wife Sudha Malaiya were robbed on board the moving Jabalpur-Nizamuddin Express train near Mathura on Thursday.
The Railways has ordered an enquiry into the incident. “Three Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel, escorting the train, have been suspended in connection with the issue,” said Railway spokesperson Anil Saxena. A gold chain, a ring and some cash were looted from the couple at knife point in the AC First-Class compartment.
Talking to the media outside Parliament, Sudha Malaiya narrated the harrowing incident, “We were travelling by Jabalpur-Nizamuddin Express train to Delhi and we boarded the train at Damoh. There was a knock on the door of our coupé, around 4 am, and when I opened the door a person carrying a dagger entered forcefully followed by four others.”
Sudha, who is also a BJP worker, said the accused robbed other passengers also in the adjoining coupé. She claimed that the three RPF personnel on duty turned up only when the robbers had left.
“Then they snatched my purse, chain and ring. They also took away money from my husband’s purse. There was another ring on my left hand which was not coming out and they threatened to cut my finger. However, one of the robbers tried to pull that ring but could not succeed.”
A complaint about the incident was filed by the Minister’s wife at Hazrat Nizamuddin Station and the matter was forwarded to Railway Police at Mathura for further enquiry, disclosed Railways spokesperson.
Meanwhile, another train in Mathura district, four passengers were allegedly robbed on board the Daskhin Express between Farah and Mathura junction at about 2.00 am, claimed IG (law and order) A Satish Ganesh. An FIR lodged in GRP Jhansi said that, while passengers Ankur Agrawal and Bimal Sharma traveling in AC (B-2) coach were robbed of Rs 5,000, the bag containing clothes of passenger Braj Kishor Prajapati was also looted.
He said that there were two miscreants who also looted belongings of the deputy Ticket Traveller Examiner. The miscreants escaped after pulling the chain. One more train was also looted on the same track but the Railway officials refused to register any case.