Passengers sedated, robbed of gold chain

HYDERABAD: Five persons travelling in an air-conditioned compartment of the Sampark Kranthi Express were sedated and robbed by a co-passenger on Wednesday. The accused offered a powder which was consumed by the victims by mixing it in food and liquor. Interestingly, the accused took away only a two-tola gold ornament leaving untouched valuables like laptops.Secunderabad railway SP M Kantha Rao said the five passengers - Shiva Kumar, Srinivas Reddy, Sudharshan, Tushar and Mohan Das of Hyderabad were travelling from Hazrat Nizamuddin to Tirupati. “The train started on Wednesday and as it reached Jhansi in Madhya Pradesh around 1.30 pm, a fellow passenger offered them a sedative,” the SP said.The passenger, identified as Ashok, spoke Hindi. He told them the powder would add taste to the food."The five passengers mixed the powder in food and liquor and and fell asleep soon after having it. They were woken up by a TTE at the Secunderabad railway station around 8.30 a.m on Thursday,” the SP said.As they couldn’t come out of their semi-conscious state, they were shifted to Gandhi hospital for treatment.Police said the accused stole a 2-tola gold chain belonging to Mohan Das but did not take other valuables, including mobile phones, laptops and gold ornaments.Kantha Rao said that a case was registered and it would be transferred to Jhansi railway police.