Sr citizen robbed of `Rs 1L gold, made to visit 3 police stations

MUMBAI: A senior citizen from Dombivli had to visit three police stations to get an FIR registered after her chain was snatched on a moving train. The 64-year-old woman's ordeal did not end here as the Panvel City police made her trudge 3km along the railway tracks to identify the spot where the incident took place, just to make sure it was in their jurisdiction.The snatching took place on August 25 when Surekha Raje was travelling to Kankavli on a Pune-Sawantwadi Ganpati special train.Raje's daughter, Sonal Rane (39), who runs a tours and travels business in Dombivli, said, “We boarded the train at Panvel around 9pm.About 3km away from the station, the train slowed down near a crossing and a robber targeted my mother. He snatched her 25gm mangalsutra and 15gm gold chain, collectively worth Rs 1.20 lakh. My brotherin-law tried to nab the snatcher, but he jumped on to the tracks.“
“I dialled the helpline number 182 but was told to call up on the other number 9833311111. I did accordingly , but a personnel asked me to complain to the attendant in the train. There was neither an attendant nor a train ticket examiner in the train. When we got off at Kankavli on August 26, we lodged a complaint with the railway police there. The Kankavli railway police transferred the case to the Panvel GRP as the crime took place in Panvel,“ she said.
When the woman returned, she approached the Panvel GRP on September 4 and recorded her statement. Three days later, she was told that the case was transferred to Panvel City police as the GRP's jurisdiction is limited to station premises.She then went to the Panvel City police station, only to be told that she will have to identify the crime spot. Rane said, “The police wanted to make sure the incident took place in their jurisdiction and they made my mother walk 3km along tracks.“
Assistant inspector of Panvel City police station Nilesh Rajput said, “The Panvel GRP did not register an FIR claiming that their jurisdiction is limited to station premises and if a crime occurs in a moving train away from the platform, then the concerned city police has to register an FIR.“
Rajput added, “The robber may have known that the train slows down at the crossing. The RPF needs to take preventive measure and deploy staff at spots where trains slow down.“