2 techies sedated, robbed on Sampark Kranti Express

Two software engineers were robbed of their valuables worth over Rs 1 lakh after they were offered soft drinks laced with sedatives on a train from Bengaluru to Hyderabad.

The techies realised that they were robbed only the following morning when they woke up after the train reached Kacheguda railway station.

According to the police, the incident happened on the intervening night of April 17 and 18 on the Sampark Kranti Express that was leaving Yeshwantpur railway station.

C Naveen Kumar (30) of Begumpet in Hyderabad boarded the general coach where there were eight to 10 other co-passengers.

As the train left Yeshwantpur railway station, one of the co-passengers engaged in a friendly chat with Kumar. He then offered Kumar an orange soft drink which he first politely refused. But he was forced to accept it after the co-passenger insisted on it.

After consuming the juice, however, Kumar gradually passed out only to wake up the following morning. He lost his four-gram gold ring, a Thinkpad laptop worth Rs 34,000, a mobile phone worth Rs 18,000, a purse with three credit cards and cash of Rs 64,000 and other valuables. He informed the station master and the police at Kacheguda station.

The police told him that he was not the only victim. Amit Kumar Gupta (30), another techie bound for Hyderabad, was also robbed in a similar manner in the same compartment. Gupta is from Ghaziabad, and he lost his laptop and bag worth 20,000, cell phone worth Rs 10,000 with a purse and cash of Rs 6,500, four ATM cards, driving licence, PAN, Aadhaar cards all worth Rs 36,500.

The police put the two through a medical examination to identify the sedatives. The police are collecting CCTV footage to identify the gang.