Not long ago, a man was held by the railway police at Ernakulam Junction railway station with several mobile phones and laptops in his possession.
It was not the number of thefts he operated that surprised the police, but the reply he gave.
“I would not have been able to steal anything from anybody if the passengers were a little concerned about their belongings. I only stole those items that were unattended and carelessly left,” he told the cops.
Indeed, carelessness and negligence are the main reasons for thefts in trains, say railway police. Statistics with the Ernakulam south railway police underline the fact that travellers are finding it tough dealing with robbers.
As many as 24 theft cases have been registered at the Ernakulam Junction railway station this year, while another 21 cases are being transferred to other states owing to the location of the crimes. The police were able to crack 11 of these 24 cases and seize the stolen items.
According to the police, several well organised robbery mafia have been operating in and out of the state fielding petty robbers in interstate trains.
Theft cases are on the rise in inter-state trains coming from Bengaluru, Chennai and the north Indian states.
The Panval-Ratnagiri, Katpadi-Jolarpettai and Tirupur-Coimbatore stretches are hot spots for train robberies, according to the police, as the most number of cases have been registered from these zones.
“Most trains pass through these areas at around 2 am to 3 am, when people are fast asleep. So the racketeers target these locations,” says C. Vinod, SI of the south railway police.
The police also said that Keralites and people from outside the states are equally involved in the theft cases.
“There have been a lot of migrant labourers who are part of the robbery gangs. But several Malayalees are also involved in theft rackets,” Vinod added.