CHENNAI: In a daring robbery, a three-member gang escaped with Rs 1.32 lakh after gagging a ticket collector at Thiruvanmiyur MRTS station around 4.30am on Monday. The railway police have registered a case and detained three migrant labourers after a sniffer dog stopped in front of their house located near the station.
According to police, Teekaram Meena (29), of Rajasthan, who stays with his wife and children in Sriperumbudur, stayed back at the station after his shift ended at 11.30pm on Sunday. He woke up around 4.30am and left the booking counter to open the station gates for commuters.
“When he returned to the counter, a masked three-member gang threatened him at gunpoint, tied his hands and legs, and gagged him with a cloth. The gang then broke open a cupboard, looted the cash and escaped,” railway police inspector S Saalini said.
Commuters who were waiting for a long time for the ticket counter to open, found Teekaram Meena lying inside the counter, his hands and legs tied, police said. The station does not have CCTV cameras,
According to police, Teekaram said that he had kept the cash in the cupboard as he was not able to deposit it in the bank on Sunday. Teekaram has been working at the station for about a year and a half.
‘No dedicated security staff deployed by RPF, GRP 24/7’
Despite several incidents of murder and abuse at railway stations, the Thiruvanmiyur MRTS does not have CCTV cameras. Almost 80 per cent of the building stretching for about 400metres is isolated and unused. The building stands next to a canal, which is filled with garbage, and an empty plot filled with trees and bushes.
The railway staff who spoke to TNIE also said that there are no dedicated security staffs deployed by the RPF or GRP around the clock. Deputy Superintendent of Police Saurav Kumar of the RPF told TNIE that CCTV cameras provided to private contractors are about to be installed. The railway police have sought the help of Taramani police to comb through CCTV footages from the neighborhood.
No tickets
When a senior railway police officer reached the spot for inquiry, staff stopped issuing tickets. Around noon, the queue kept growing and the crowd which lost its patience picked up an argument with the staff. Tension prevailed at the station for some time.