Bhopal, December 22
A woman was allegedly raped in the Lucknow-bound Pushpak Express from Mumbai by a group of armed men, who also went on a looting spree and threw three passengers out of the train near Vidisha, around 60 km from here, the police said today.
Eight to 10 men armed with knives and sharp-edged weapons, who boarded the train in Bhopal, went on a looting spree and beat up passengers in the general compartment when the train approached Vidisha around midnight, Government Railway Police (GRP) said here.
They threw three passengers out of the train who offered resistance, sources said, adding that the three— Akhilesh, Ajay and Sanjay — were admitted to a hospital in Jhansi, where their condition was stated to be critical.
The group members dragged the woman into a toilet and raped her, the police said adding that the attackers pulled the chain near Lalitpur station and fled.
Senior officials, including Inspector General of Police (GRP) P.L. Pandey had reached Jhansi and a further probe into the incident was on, they said.
Describing the alleged rape of the woman as “unfortunate”, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad today ordered a probe into the incident and said no passengers were thrown out of the train.
“This is an unfortunate incident .... though the woman is not prepared to undergo a medical check-up to ascertain rape, I have asked Chairman of the Railway Board J.P. Batra to get the matter probed,” he told reporters in Patna.
— PTI, UNI
