Palamu: Documents belonging to the Indian Army were among belongings worth thousands of rupees looted by unidentified dacoits on board Sambalpur-Jammu Tawi Express in Latehar district of Jharkhand on Saturday midnight, sources have said. The robbery took place inside the S9 coach of the Sambalpur-Jammu Tawi Express train number 18309 which was on way from Sambalpur to Jammu Tawi.
Sources said that the 10-12 dacoits looted belongings from around 50 passengers worth Rs 75000 between Latehar and Barwadih stations under the Dhanbad division of East Central Railway (ECR). Among the belongings looted by the dacoits were important Army documents carried by a soldier in his bag, sources said.
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It is learnt that the soldier was traveling from from Rourkela to Amritsar. The soldier has been identified as Gurpreet Singh has told the Railway Police that the defense government documents which belonged to the Punjab Regiment have also been looted by the dacoits. Besides the documents, cash and other items were also looted from him, the soldier said.
The police of Daltonganj railway station has recorded the statement of the victim passengers and sent it to Barkakana railway station. A Railway Police official said that based on the statement of the victims, an FIR has been registered in Barkakana. Police is investigating the case, he added. Significantly, the robbery incident has been carried out by dacoits in Sambalpur Jammu Tawi Express between Latehar to Barwadih railway station which is considered ultra Naxal affected area.
There have been many major Naxalite attacks on railways in the said area in the past. Sources said that the dacoits got down from the train in Barwadih and fled.
