Railway robbers: ‘Hajis’ drug and rob train passengers
The robbers posing as pilgrims distributed poisoned Zam Zam water and dates.
KHANEWAL:
A group of swindlers robbed eighteen passengers of the Super Express train on Wednesday after drugging them.
According to railway officials, the robbers posed as Hajis, who had recently returned from Makkah. “They began to distribute dates and Zam Zam water bottles among the passengers of one of the rail boxes,” said railway guard Suleman. He said that when the train docked and officials began to check for luggage they found an entire rail car filled with unconscious passengers. “They had all been drugged and robbed,” he said. Railway officials said that they sent the passengers to the Khanewal DHQ Hospital for treatment.
A total of 60 railway passengers were robbed during the past one week and others have said that they suspect the same gang of robbers for all the incidents. “All of the robberies involved large groups of people who had been poisoned,” ticket collector Kareem said.
The passengers, who came to their senses several hours after the incident said that the Railway Police had been negligent in properly checking all the people on board the train. “These men were not checked properly. We later found out that one of them had a gun. This reflects sheer negligence on part of the administration,” said Zainab Bibi, a passenger.
According to the passengers, the robbers escaped with over Rs120,000 and 13 tolas of gold.
“This is the fourth of such robberies in a week and the authorities have not taken any action,” said Muhammad Zain, adding “We never thought that someone would drug us while offering us khajoors and posing as Hajis. This is a new low.”
“We reported the incident immediately but the authorities didn’t pay any attention to the problem” said passenger from Multan, Momina.
The affected passengers were treated at the DHQ hospital. The attending in-charge Dr Shafi said that the passengers had all been administered a strong sedative.
“The food they had was poisoned and the water was tainted. They recovered after a few hours but one of the patients is in serious condition and has developed a stomach infection,” he said.
“We are tightening security at the railway stations but there aren’t enough funds to do this properly,” said a railway guard Pasha. “I personally monitor every train with several ticket collectors but it is impossible to weed out such passengers,” he said.
“The claim that one of the robbers had a gun is completely false. No one would be able to board the train with a gun because everyone undergoes a security check,” he said.
Passengers, on the other hand, said that security at the railway station as well as aboard the trains was virtually non-existent. “No one checked anything. One police woman grabbed my hand bag and shook it a little and then let me in. That was the only security measure in place and no wonder such robberies are becoming routine,” said Momina.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 28th, 2011.
A group of swindlers robbed eighteen passengers of the Super Express train on Wednesday after drugging them.
According to railway officials, the robbers posed as Hajis, who had recently returned from Makkah. “They began to distribute dates and Zam Zam water bottles among the passengers of one of the rail boxes,” said railway guard Suleman. He said that when the train docked and officials began to check for luggage they found an entire rail car filled with unconscious passengers. “They had all been drugged and robbed,” he said. Railway officials said that they sent the passengers to the Khanewal DHQ Hospital for treatment.
A total of 60 railway passengers were robbed during the past one week and others have said that they suspect the same gang of robbers for all the incidents. “All of the robberies involved large groups of people who had been poisoned,” ticket collector Kareem said.
The passengers, who came to their senses several hours after the incident said that the Railway Police had been negligent in properly checking all the people on board the train. “These men were not checked properly. We later found out that one of them had a gun. This reflects sheer negligence on part of the administration,” said Zainab Bibi, a passenger.
According to the passengers, the robbers escaped with over Rs120,000 and 13 tolas of gold.
“This is the fourth of such robberies in a week and the authorities have not taken any action,” said Muhammad Zain, adding “We never thought that someone would drug us while offering us khajoors and posing as Hajis. This is a new low.”
“We reported the incident immediately but the authorities didn’t pay any attention to the problem” said passenger from Multan, Momina.
The affected passengers were treated at the DHQ hospital. The attending in-charge Dr Shafi said that the passengers had all been administered a strong sedative.
“The food they had was poisoned and the water was tainted. They recovered after a few hours but one of the patients is in serious condition and has developed a stomach infection,” he said.
“We are tightening security at the railway stations but there aren’t enough funds to do this properly,” said a railway guard Pasha. “I personally monitor every train with several ticket collectors but it is impossible to weed out such passengers,” he said.
“The claim that one of the robbers had a gun is completely false. No one would be able to board the train with a gun because everyone undergoes a security check,” he said.
Passengers, on the other hand, said that security at the railway station as well as aboard the trains was virtually non-existent. “No one checked anything. One police woman grabbed my hand bag and shook it a little and then let me in. That was the only security measure in place and no wonder such robberies are becoming routine,” said Momina.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 28th, 2011.