Thieves nabbed in train, freed by cops

SANGLI: Passengers on the Jodhpur-Bangalore train on Friday risked their lives to nab three knife-wielding robbers, only to see the railway police at Miraj station let them go as soon as they were handed over to them.
Hundreds of agitated passengers staged a rail roko at the station in protest against the police's decision to release the robbers. They forced the police to produce the three robbers before them and only then was the train allowed to proceed on its journey.
According to the passengers, a gang of robbers had got into the train at Pune and was operating in groups of three or four in different compartments.They threatened the passengers with knives and asked them to surrender their valuables. However, the passengers in one compartment managed to overpower the robbers. When the other robbers learnt about it, they jumped off the train as it slowed down at Miraj.
The robbers who were nabbed were handed over to the Miraj railway police. According to some passengers, the police merely reprimanded the robbers and let them go.
When questioned about this, the police failed to give satisfactory answers, the passengers said.
Chaos prevailed at the station as passengers sat on a dharna for nearly three hours, forcing the police to produce the three robbers before them. The passengers also secured an assurance from the police that the remaining members of the gang would also be arrested.