ANANTAPUR: The Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel fired into air three rounds when the robbers, who robbed two train passengers at knifepoint, pelted stones when they tried to arrest them at Taticherla railway station in the wee hours of Wednesday. Ironically, the robbers later snatched the bike ofa CI at knifepoint and escaped.
According to the railway police, a group of robbers robbed two train passengers travelling in the Bidar - Yesvantpur Express. When the train came to a halt at Taticherla village for crossing of other train, the robbers robbed a passenger Narayana of Rs 22,000 and they extorted Rs 25,000 from another passenger at knife point. At the same time, the train started moving. Hearing the screams of the passengers in the S3 bogie, the RPF personnel rushed to the compartment. The robbers stopped the train by pulling the chain. When the train halted, they jumped off the bogie and hid behind bushes.
In a bid to apprehend the robbers, the RPF personnel got down and rushed towards the bushes. On seeing the RPF personnel, the robbers started pelting stones at them. In retaliation, the police fired three rounds into the air, but the robbers managed to escape. Later, the train left the place.
On the receipt of information, Anantapur railway police CI VK Meena immediately rushed to Taticherla railway station. The robbers swooped on the CI who was in plain clothes, snatched his Pulsar bike at knife point and fled the scene. Later, the CI lodged a complaint in Dharmavaram police station. Dharmavaram CI T Tabrej said that one of the victims Satyanarayana lodged a complaint in Dharmavaram railway station while another passenger lodged a complaint in Bangalore police station.