The police have detained nine suspected robbers with sharp weapons in connection with an attack on the Dhaka-bound Karnaphuli Express train and the snatching of valuables from its passengers at Tongi Railway Station of Gazipur.
The robbery took place when the train was waiting to enter the outer signal of Tongi Railway Station around 10pm on Thursday.
At the time, passengers started screaming when the robber gang was pelting rocks at the train and snatching valuables, including mobile phones, creating panic.
Towhidul Islam, station master of Tongi Railway Station, said snatching occurred in some bogies after the train stopped at the outer signal.
“The attackers hurled stones targeting passengers through the windows of the train. A few passengers and a TTE sustained injuries in the incident,” he said.
They ran away soon after police arrived at the spot, said the station master.
Zakir Hossain, a passenger, said as a passenger got down from the train when it stopped at the outer signal, three people emerged from a bush and snatched his mobile phone.
Then they began pelting stones at the train and hurt some people, said the passenger.
Chhoton Sharma, the person in charge of the Tongi railway outpost, said police were sent to the spot after a 999 call from a passenger, but no injured attendant or passenger was found.
Tongi Zone Assistant Police Commissioner Mehedi Hasan said after the incident police raided nearby areas and detained nine people with sharp weapons.
The detainees – Mehedi Hasan Joy, 26, Md Rony, 35, Rabiul Hasan, 40, Md Swadin, 30, Md Saiful Islam Jakir, 25, Md Masud, 27, Md Nasir, 20, Md Nayon Hasan, 28, and Md Ashiq, 22 – are residents of different areas of Tongi.