Daijiworld Media Network - Kasargod (SP)
Kasargod, May 28: A gang of three sprayed chilly powder into the eyes of a Bantwal resident when he was travelling by train and then decamped with a bag that he was holding. The bag contained Rs 15 lac in cash. The incident occurred at Kannur on Tuesday May 26.
The person who was robbed of this money was Jayateertha (56), who works as a salesman in a Mangaluru-based factory which produces plastic products. His place of residence is by the side of Goddess Laxmi Temple in Bantwal. Jayateertha had visited Kannur on Tuesday to recover money due to the factory from merchants there. After collecting money he kept the amount in his bag, and boarded Kannur-Yashwantpur Express train's general compartment to return to Mangaluru. It is said that the compartment had very few passengers then.
A three-member team of robbers suddenly entered the compartment, threw chilly powder into his eyes, snatched away the bag containing cash from Jayateertha's hand, and vanished. A co-passenger saw that the robbers were running away with the bag, and alerted the railway police. By the time policemen reacted, the robbers had run away.
It is said that the railway police were busy admitting a person named Hanif from Palayangady, who had slipped and injured himself when trying to boarding the train at that moment, into the hospital. Therefore, they took time to respond to the robbery complaint, it is learnt.
On the basis of a complaint filed by Jayateertha, Kannur railway police have registered a case and taken up investigation.