Bhubaneswar: A robbery attempt on Visakha Express, which was en route to Secunderabad from Bhubaneswar, was foiled near Tummala Cheruvu in Andhra Pradesh’s Palnadu district early on Sunday.
This was the third such incident within a week.
According to reports, a gang of unidentified robbers targeted the train between 3.30 and 3.45 am. Two among them pulled the chain in the S1 coach to halt the train. They, however, fled to open fields as escort police deboarded the train to investigate as per Standard Operating Procedure (SOP.
The other gang members, waiting by the tracks, hurled stones at the GRP personnel, who then had to fire five rounds from a 9mm pistol and four rounds from a .303 rifle in the air to deter them. “No injuries were reported and no passenger was harmed during the incident,” Guntur Railway DSP B Akkeshwara Rao told PTI.
The train resumed its onward journey after a 10-minute halt, he added.
Police suspect that a seven-member group from Bihar-Maharashtra operated along this vulnerable stretch and was also involved in prior thefts near Nadikudi. “Summer patrols have been intensified and we will catch the culprits very soon,” Roa said.
A case was registered under BNS 126(2), Railway Act 141, and police firing protocols, the report added.
