Patna:
''There were about 25 of them. They came with guns. My wife begged them to spare us, but they put a gun to my head and asked for our cell phones and money.'' Devendra Kumar Chaudhary was in an air-conditioned coach on a train headed from Howrah to Delhi when he was startled awake.
Fifty armed dacoits had boarded the train which was passing through Bihar's Lakhisarai district at 4.45 am on Friday morning. In a matter of seconds, one passenger was shot, another 20 were injured. The dacoits restricted themselves to three Air-Conditioned coaches. They left with cash worth 2.5 lakh, jewellery, and cell phones.
(See Pics)''There was one guard on the train. But as soon as the dacoits came, he hid in the toilet,'' says a young girl who witnessed the drama on the Lal Quila Express. There were four unarmed jawans of the Bihar Police on the train; one of them took a bullet in the stomach. They stood no real chance of defending either themselves or others on the train. (Read:
How the Lal Quila Express was looted in Bihar)
Furious passengers vented their frustration by attacking the station master's office when the train pulled into Kiul station an hour later.
(Watch: Passengers share their trauma)"There are too many trains for us to effectively police. The Railway Protection Force needs to pitch in more," said PK Thakur, the Additional General of Police in Bihar, when asked why there were just four jawans on the train.
In the last year, there have been five major train robberies in Bihar - more than any other part of the country. The Railways and the state police have reportedly guaranteed that vulnerable routes like the Lalquila Express' are closely-guarded. The massive assault today leaves that claim exposed in the most dangerous of ways.