Raillways adds insult to injury of passenger

KOCHI: Losing valuables and cash worth Rs 1,20,000 in a train journey and the lackadaisical attitude of the Railway authorities came as a double blow to 52-year-old Parag Desai, a sales executive from Mumbai.  
The incident took place onboard the Guruvayur-Chennai Express on April 25.  Desai, who boarded the train from Angamaly, noticed the theft only after he woke up at 1 am.
“Quite surprisingly, when I informed the ticket examiner and the Railway Police on board the train of the incident, they asked me to wait till the train reached Thiruvananthapuram, all because they did not have a complaint book!” says Desai who is in Kerala on an official tour.  More irritating was the reply from the ticket examiner, who said the mistake could be from Desai who could have misplaced the luggage.  “He made it sound that I was responsible for my loss and that I might have forgotten the luggage at Angamaly railway station.”
According to witnesses, a man had entered Desai’s cabin before disembarking at the next station. He was carrying two bags similar to the ones of Desai. Interestingly, the theft had taken place in spite of the presence of four Railway security officials on the train.
“It is quite strange that the thief could easily evade such tight security, if there was one,” he said.
Desai also adds that the TT had come to him twice for his ticket.  “This was just some time before I realised that my two bags were missing. The TT had already checked my tickets. Why was he doing it again?” he asks. At present, the FIR filed at the Thiruvananthapuram Central Station by the Railway Police has been shifted to the Ernakulam Railway Police stating that the incident took place under Ernakulam limit.”
I think the police were just washing of their hands from all responsibilities,” he said.
The luggage includes a navy blue laptop, a Nokia 9500 cell phone with charger, a leather belt. Also, it contained Rs 45,000 in cash. “We have started the probe," he said.