Woman falls off, dies while fighting robber on running train

Less than a month after the Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) and senior Railway Protection Force (RPF) officers claimed that crime in trains running on the Delhi division of the Northern Railways, have dipped, another horrendous instance has come up to prove them wrong. A woman, who was standing near the door of a moving train, died on Sunday when a robber snatched her purse, making her fall onto the tracks. She succumbed on the spot.

Police are trying to identify the miscreant, however they said since the incident took place during the early hours, witnesses couldn't see the accused, making their tough job even more challenging.

The woman was identified as 42-year-old Sudhir Bansal, who was coming to Delhi from Bhiwadi in Rajasthan, with her son Gaurav, to drop him at his new college hostel. According to the police, the incident took place around 5.35 am, when the train, Yoga Express, slowed down ahead of the Old Delhi railway station.

"Witnesses told Railway Protection Force officers, that at the time of incident the woman was standing near the gate. As the train slowed down, which is a regular practice due to heavily encroached stretch, a snatcher approached Bansal for her purse which she was carrying. They said, following a short scuffle, the woman fell off the moving train. When they rushed to the gate they found her lying injured but couldn't see the miscreant who had managed to flee as it was dark," said a senior officer.

The train was stopped and the woman whose limbs had come under the train, was rushed to a hospital, where she was declared brought dead. Police teams along with the RPF and forensics team were sent to the spot to collect evidence.

The body has been sent for a post-mortem and a case has registered. Police are also trying to check CCTV footages from the vicinity to identify the accused.

Earlier, the Divisional Railway Manager, Delhi Division, RN Singh, had held a press conference last month claiming that incidents of crime have witnessed a drastic dip in Delhi division. He also claimed that various efforts have been taken to ensure vigil at stations and the tracks.

However, incidents in the recent past have shown up the DRM's claim as hollow. A 22-year-old woman was thrown off a running express train when she challenged a robber trying to flee with her luggage, a Muslim teen was lynched on a local train by a mob, which called him a "beef-eater" and "anti-national," while a man's body was found in a pool of blood, while another man was shot at on a train in separate incidents All of these horrors have been witnessed in the recent past.