Puttur man, on pilgrimage trip, robbed on train after getting separated from group

Team Udayavani, Aug 30, 2024, 10:44 AM IST

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An elderly man from Puttur was robbed by unidentified persons on a train after he was separated from his group during a pilgrimage trip to North India.

The victim, Subrahmanya Bhat (64), a resident of Kakkur near Bettampady, was traveling with his wife Veena and a group of 30 pilgrims to Varanasi, Prayag, and Gaya.

Bhat was separated after the couple, along with other pilgrims, arrived at Delhi’s Nizamuddin Railway Station on July 31. After having a meal, they took separate rickshaws back to the station.

Subrahmanya Bhat and his wife, along with three others, were in one rickshaw. After the others alighted and headed towards the station, Subrahmanya Bhat was the last to get down. However, the rickshaw driver demanded extra money, and by the time Bhat paid him, the train had already departed. His wife, assuming he was on the train, boarded it, only to realize later that he was missing.

Subrahmanya Bhat contacted his wife and informed her that he had missed the train and would catch another one. He later boarded another train to Ayodhya.

While traveling in the general compartment, Bhat was befriended by a stranger. On August 1 morning, as Bhat went to the restroom, the stranger, along with others, stole his belongings, including cash, a mobile phone, and clothes, valued at approximately Rs 20,000. Instead of continuing to Ayodhya, Bhat got off at a previous station and sought help from locals, eventually reporting the incident to the Lucknow Railway Police.

Bhat then purchased a basic mobile phone and SIM card with the little money he had left and contacted his wife later that day. Meanwhile, his wife had already reached Ayodhya. Upon learning about the incident, Bhat’s son-in-law, who was in Bengaluru, reached Pratapgarh on August 2 to help his father-in-law. They continued their pilgrimage to Gaya and Kashi before flying back to Bengaluru.

Bhat’s son, Krishna Prasad Kakkur, suspects that the tea offered by the strangers might have been drugged, as his father felt drowsy and unaware of which station he had disembarked at after drinking it.