When a thief brandished a tiny knife and stole a gold mangalsutra worth Rs 3 lakh from the mother as they were leaving for their hometown of Mysuru, a joyous shopping trip in Bengaluru turned into agony for the family. The event occurred on Saturday night aboard the Chamundi Express.
After using a knife to break the chain, the thief fled the train close to Jnanabharati railway station, injuring N Manjula (52) just slightly on her neck. The weight of the pendants and mangalsutra is around 50g.
Reliving the experience, Nishkala Gowda, Manjula’s homemaker daughter, told TNIE, “My mother and two sisters and I boarded the Chamundi Express at 6.15pm from Majestic station (KSR Bengaluru). We were seated close to coach D2’s entrance and had tickets booked. From our home in Nazarbad, Mysuru, we traveled to Bengaluru to purchase for a relative who was getting married.
While the sisters were conversing, the guy struck. “We were preoccupied with our conversation when we observed a guy standing close to the entrance who kept strolling in an odd way. Later on, my mother informed us that he was fixating on her. The train moved out, moving slowly over the non-stop Jnanabharati station. It was rather dark outdoors, as I recall,” Nishkala said.
The guy grabbed a small, sharp knife out of his pocket and made a break at Manjula. We began screaming in terror as soon as he revealed it to us. He used it to quickly cut her chain and leaped out the open door. I recall him tumbling into the underbrush. We began weeping out of amazement,” she said. The compartment contained only two guys. They followed a passenger’s suggestion and pulled the emergency train.
500 meters ahead, the train stopped. It stood close to Kengeri Station. The family was contacted and asked to provide a statement by Government Railway Police and railway authorities. They informed us that this kind of situation occurred more than a year ago and was very uncommon on the Chamundi Express. We should go back to Bengaluru and lodge a report, the policeman told us,” Nishkala added.
By 10.15 p.m., the family had left Ramanagara, boarded a train back to KSR, and lodged a complaint at the GRP station. On Sunday afternoon, the concern was turned into a formal complaint. So far, there hasn’t been any progress.