Woman loses bag in Amritsar-Dadar Express, says railway cops told her they could not register case because she travelled sleeper class and did not lose over Rs 2 lakh
A woman who lost a bag on the Amritsar-Dadar Express claims the Government Railway Police (GRP) refused to register her complaint just because she had not made the journey in an air-conditioned coach.
Looted on board: Sukhbir Kaur (45) and her daughter Jaspreet Kaur (24). Pic/Sunil Tiwari
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The passenger, who travelled sleeper class from New Delhi to Dadar, said the GRP told her they could not register the case as she and her
daughter did not have an AC coach ticket and the loss she had suffered was not over Rs 2 lakh.
Sukhbir Kaur (45) said she and her daughter Jaspreet Kaur (24) boarded the train on Monday with a bag in which they had kept Rs 5,000 and some new clothes bought for their relatives in the city.
“We had purchased new clothes for my sister’s family in Mumbai and I had also kept Rs 5,000 in cash in the bag,” Sukhbir said. “We had locked the bag and kept it below the seat in the sleeper class.”
The train left New Delhi at 8.50 pm on Monday and reached Dadar station at 4 am on Wednesday.
“On Tuesday morning, I was shocked to see that I had lost the only bag I was carrying,” Sukhbir said. “I informed everybody in the coach, but nobody helped me as I looked everywhere for the bag. I complained to the ticket-checking staff and the attendant, but nobody bothered to guide me on where I should complain.”
Sukhbir, who is from Madhya Pradesh and had gone to Delhi to meet her son, travelled from the national capital to the city to meet her elder sister Amarjeet Kaur, who lives in Agripada.
“Luckily, I had a small purse in which I had kept Rs 200, our tickets and my mobile phone,” she said. “I could come to Mumbai because I still had my purse, otherwise it would have been very difficult for me to travel to Mumbai after losing the bag mid-journey.”
Sukhbir, who was in the S3 compartment, said after she could not find her bag, she was left with no option but to wait till her destination station to pursue the matter.
“I got down at Dadar station and went to the GRP to lodge a complaint, but the duty officer asked me about my ticket class and then he asked me about the worth of any jewellery and cash in the bag,” Sukhbir said.
She said she told him only the truth about the worth of the loss, and was stunned to hear that her complaint could not be entertained because the loss was small and she was not travelling in an AC compartment.
“The officer on duty told me that since I didn’t have an AC ticket and the loss of cash or jewellery was not over Rs 2 lakh, he could not register my complaint,” she said. “I was very upset with the attitude of the police and we had to turn back without registering the complaint.”
The other side
Deputy Commissioner of Police (GRP) G S Bhandare said he would look into the case and take action if Sukhbir Kaur’s claim was found true. “There is no such rule that only AC ticket holder should be entertained. Right now, I don’t have any idea about the incident. I will make enquiries and take appropriate action if the incident turns out to be true.”u00a0
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