Woman sits on rail tracks to ensure hubby’s rescue

MUNGER: In a rare show of courage, a woman saved her husband from the clutches of criminals who had committed robbery on a running train between Akbarnagar and Bariarpur railway stations in Munger district on Thursday.Omprakash Singh, manager of a stone crusher plant and resident of Tin Pahar village under Rajmahal police station in Sahebganj district, was on way to Patna in the general compartment of 13133 Sealdah-Varanasi Express with his wife Munni Devi, sister-in-law Pratima Devi and two minor children. As the train reached Akbarnagar railway station, a group of 10 criminals boarded it posing as passengers. Three of them occupied the luggage seat. When the train started moving, Omprakash noticed that persons sitting on the luggage seat were trying to cut his bag with a razor. As he protested, the criminals started quarrelling with him. Omprakash’s sister-in-law suffered minor injuries when she resisted the attempt of the robbers.The passengers of the train also raised an alarm and when the robbers tried to escape by jumping off the train, three of them were overpowered by the co-passengers. The remaining members of the gang managed to escape after kidnapping Omprakash. Munni Devi, wife of Omprakash, did not lose any moment and pulled the alarm chain of the train. The three robbers, who were overpowered by the passengers, were handed over to the police escort party.When the train stopped at the Bariarpur railway station, Munni Devi ran towards the engine of the train and sat on the track. All efforts to persuade her to vacate the railway track by the rail police and railway officials went in vain. She was adamant not to vacate the track unless her husband was rescued. A few passengers also joined her and squatted on the railway track.The station master and the rail police then informed the matter to GRP, Jamalpur. The SHO of Jamalpur GRP, Kripa Sagar, asked his Bariarpur counterpart to make a hot chase of the abductors. Finally, the police succeeded in rescuing Ompakash from a diara area, about three km away from the station. The train remained stranded at the Bariarpur railway station for at least an hour before Munni Devi vacated the rail track.An FIR has been lodged with Jamalpur GRP in connection with the incident on the basis of Omprakash’s statement. Jewelleries, cash and clothes worth Rs 60,000 were looted from the train passengers, police said.